


Everyone's got secrets

by cherrishish



Category: NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV), Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Betrayal, Compulsion, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Drama, F/M, Gen, Hybrids, Multiple Crossovers, Past Relationship(s), Rituals, Supernatural Elements, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, Work In Progress, cold ones
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-27 02:52:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 124,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7600618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrishish/pseuds/cherrishish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Multiple crossover between Twilight/Vampire Diaries (Originals)/NCIS/NCIS: New Orleans, but the latter two is more of a plot device. Bella has become a vampire, and running from her past she had become an NCIS agent, trying to do some good with her superhuman abilities. But your past always catches up with you one way or another. M for a bit of smut, warnings there where apply.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Can't escape your past

**Author's Note:**

> Okay this is going to be a Twilight/Vampire Diaries/NCIS crossover, bear with me please until I establish the storyline adequately and how these get intertwined, and I will give a backstory for most of the things but in short:
> 
> From Twilight we are about five years after New Moon, Edward left Bella, but they didn't get back together, she didn't jump off the cliff and Alice never came back, she moved from Forks to Mystic Falls, where she was turned into a vampire (not a Cold one, a regular vampire).After having her thirst under control she settles in Washington D.C., joining the police there because she felt that she could use her supernatural strength for the better, from which NCIS recruits her.
> 
> As for Vampire Diaries, it's a bit hazy, going to go AU real fast, many diversions from the series with other parts intact, but a good reference point would be maybe the end of season 6 (possibly 7 though I haven't gotten to it yet :O ), Elena is back to human from being a vampire, in deep-slumber, although when Bella was in Mystic Falls first she wasn't one yet (season 3), so Bella missed that whole chunk with her.
> 
> For NCIS, after Ziva leaves (so after season 11), but instead of Ellie Bishop, we get Bella, not that much of a focus, more like a plot device.

At the outskirts of Washington, D.C., in a nearly abandoned warehouse district, a woman was dragged by two men. She was a brunette, but her hair was not just any plain brown color. It was rich and intense, kind of like mahogany with a hint of red when the rays of the sun danced on it, providing lovely contrast and frame to her pale skin, matching her chocolate brown eyes. Her face was heart-shaped but angular and well defined. All in all, she was stunning, even more so with her slender body hugged by a slightly too tight red dress, accentuating her small curves, especially her tiny waist and perky breasts.

Some might have considered this a burden, given that her striking looks were the very thing that led to her abduction. But as a matter of fact, that was precisely what she had been counting on.

_This should be an interesting day_ , the woman thought to herself as the two burly thugs "escorted" her from the back of their nondescript white van towards the greyish building across the lot.

The brunette was working on a case. One very important to her heart. That is how it happened that she purposefully allowed herself to be "kidnapped" – as the assailants thought – before the clock even struck 10 AM. Some jobs were just worth the inconvenience.

Not to mention this move saved her the trouble of tracking them down one by one. There wasn't really much they could do to hurt her anyway. Not unless they knew what she was, but given that they had tried to use chloroform to knock her out, it was pretty certain they had absolutely no idea. She gladly played along with their scheme just to make sure her cover stayed intact, both her professional and personal one. But this would only be a concern until she was done with them.

To tell you the truth, this development would speed up the investigation the brunette was conducting at the moment more than she had dared to hope. Given the right circumstances, she planned to make them sing like canaries. Circumstances like finally losing that damned blindfold they had put on her after snatching her off the street just to make sure she didn't know where they were going. Little did they know, she had other means of finding out. There wasn't really much you could hide from a vampire. Given that they had crossed two train tracks – a mile and a half apart from each other from the origin of her "pick up" – turned left once then right three minutes later and that she could hear the bustling noise of the highway on their right side approximately two miles away, the undercover agent knew precisely which dingy little warehouse district they were in. Even the fact that she was probably being taken towards the second to last warehouse on the left.

The brunette could have easily broken away the ropes they had used to tie her to the chair she was sitting on, but she was still waiting for their boss to arrive, whom she was really after. This petty little gang of criminals dealt in human trafficking, to be more precise in the trafficking of children and teenagers, and to be honest, there weren't many things that made the vampire angrier than the mistreatment, abuse, and exploitation of children. After the child of a Navy Officer had been abducted, she quickly jumped on the case, finding the little girl in less than three hours. It could have taken less with her vampire senses and all, but she didn't want anyone at NCIS to get suspicious. Also, this wasn't just a personal preference, she didn't need all the federal agencies poking around in the world of supernatural. It was for the better for them to remain clueless.

All that was left was ending this little operation once and for all. But this was more like a personal hobby of hers, she wasn't here on official NCIS business. The direct culprit that was responsible for the abduction of the Navy Officer's daughter was already behind bars. Unfortunately, he didn't snitch on his boss in the official interrogation, but a little visit from our vampire unbeknownst to anyone did the trick.

Finally, the ringleader decided to show up, the brunette could hear him talking on his phone just outside the far entrance of the warehouse about preparations for kidnapping some other poor kid. She wasn't about to let that happen.

Without his henchman noticing, she shifted in her chair, getting ready to pounce when the moment was right. The boss walked in, ordering his men to kill her. He wanted revenge for messing up his business last time. So much for her cover not being blown… Her original plan was to be taken under the guise of being sold off as well, but it seemed she had been recognized.

_Oh, well…_  This was her cue to act. Within seconds she had everyone bound by rope or in handcuffs. It's not like she had to worry about them telling anyone about her capabilities, she would just compel them to forget later.

"Where are the other kids?" the brunette asked in a calm manner, leaning over the fat-ass gangster. It was so cliché, it almost hurt. The vampire wasn't concerned with such things at the moment though.

"What the… how?" the boss wondered out loud, confusion and utter fear sitting on his features.

"That is not important right now. Where are the kids?" she repeated, her patience wearing thin. Usually, to keep in practice with her agent cover and interrogation skills, she liked to start off the conventional way. It was a bit tricky with not having a good cop to counterbalance her frightening demeanor.

"Like hell we are going to tell you anything, you monster!" he spat in her face, trying to struggle out of the ropes that now had him tied down. Talk about turning the tables.

"That's not really nice is it?" the vampire leaned in closer, her pupils dilating. "You are going to tell me everything about your operation, in detail and honestly. Where are the kids?"

"Two already on a ship to Malaysia, two locked up in a warehouse at Adams Place, and a girl is about to be kidnapped from the Lincoln Street area, two of my men are already on their way," the ringleader mumbled out in an obedient daze. In the background, his henchmen started to get even more nervous.

"Just great!" the agent sighed in frustration and flipped her untraceable phone (that even NCIS didn't know about) out to call MPD. "Hi, I would like to report a crime! A child is being kidnapped on Lincoln Street, please hurry!" she said in a perfectly acted out panicked voice then hung up immediately. "Where are they taking her if they succeed?" she continued her interrogation as if that tiny intermezzo had never happened.

"Here," the boss admitted without hesitation.

_Good_ , she thought, she would just wait for her in the warehouse in case the police didn't get there in time to prevent the kidnapping. "What about the kids on the way to Malaysia, which ship are they on? Where is it going exactly? When is it scheduled to arrive?"

"EVER DECENT 0686-099W, Bintulu, September 20th," the fat man listed the details. The vampire didn't need to write them down. She had almost perfect memory.

Sometimes the brunette wondered how much easier the whole justice system would have been if there had been more vampires willing to work there and submit themselves to the ordinary limitations that humans had to face. Tricky business must admit. With the whole blood drinking thing going on. But her kind theoretically could pull it off. Their bite wasn't venomous. Turning someone required for the human to ingest vampire blood shortly before their death. And they could resist overfeeding and thus killing their prey. A little compulsion afterward and it was as if they were never there. And of course, there are other means. Blood bags, hunting animals instead. Endless opportunities. Only if more vampires were willing to take this route, but alas… most liked to give in to their "true" nature. Some would argue that point. The brunette had known a doctor who was a vampire and had never tasted human blood.

"Any more associates of yours who are not currently here, or en route to kidnap that girl?" the woman asked her last question. They were just about done here.

"No," the criminal shook his head.

"Good. Now…" she looked deeply into his eyes again. "You will forget everything that happened here today, you never saw me, never kidnapped me, you will go and give yourself up at the police station and admit to every crime you have ever committed," the brunette went and did the same with all of his associates as well.

She waited two hours just to make sure that the other culprits were captured and didn't return to their hideout. In the meantime, she contacted her friend at CGIS on her regular work phone about a tip she got regarding the kidnappings and a certain cargo ship. Then let the human traffickers loose, who under the influence of the compulsion got into their van and drove straight to the local precinct.

Bella Swan's face broke out into a proud smile as she watched them disappear from sight. Her father's blood was strong in her it seemed, even after everything. These moments were what she lived for. Whether done officially or not.

Looking down at herself, the now ripped red dress and stockings, broken heels, she sighed. She had to change anyway. At a superhuman speed no one could possibly see her, she whipped to the other part of town to her apartment and picked out a more work appropriate attire. Jeans, a loose blouse, leather jacket, and boots ought to do it. Then drove her Chevy Pickup to work, even if running would have been faster. Some pretenses you just had to keep up.

* * *

"Where have you been, Probie?" Tony asked with a teasing smirk as Bella got off the elevator and entered the bullpen with a coffee in hand. Her morning endeavor took a little longer than she had initially anticipated and she had only taken time off until noon. Always a good idea to bring coffee if you aren't sure whether you are in trouble with your boss or not. Assuming of course that your boss is Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"Personal business to take care of…" Bella retorted with a stern look that told him to back off as she placed the caffeine offering on Gibbs's desk. "By the way, I got a tip from an informant on the kidnapped children cases. Apparently, two kids were shipped to Malaysia."

"Yeah, I heard the whole gang gave themselves up at MPD," even confessing stuff like stealing from the candy store when they were ten, which was kind of weird, but he left that piece out. "Also two of the four missing kids were found safe and sound," DiNozzo probed further. Truth be told, some cases miraculously moved along when Swan took some "personal" time off.  _Coincidence? Think not!_

"Yes, I heard that too. I'm glad. I already contacted the coast guards about my tip, I hope they can intercept the ship and find the remaining two soon enough," the brunette, oblivious to Tony's suspicions, sat down at her desk, throwing her bag down by her feet and fired up the computer.

"Hope so too," McGee chimed into their conversation too from the other corner.

"Apparently there was even a thwarted abduction on Lincoln Street. Also an anonymous tip, my buddy said," the former Baltimore police officer, the now agent, added nonchalantly, leaning back in his chair with his hands at the nape of his neck. He had his contacts at Metro Police, which came handy in all sorts of situations.

Something in his tone caught Bella's attention now. He seemed calm, just curious, his heartbeat not indicating anything more than that. At least nothing that would suggest that he was onto her real identity.  _He wouldn't take that news this serenely_ , she believed. This whole assessment hadn't taken her more than a hundredth of a second, and she answered with her usual, almost indifferent voice.

"Maybe there is hope for humanity, after all. Decent citizens not having gone extinct yet," the brunette looked into her fellow agent's eyes with a small, but thoroughly genuine looking, smile as she said that. Lying was second nature to her. She could control every facet of her facial expression and body language. If needed even her heart rate. How else would she have passed the many routine lie detector tests over the years?

Given Tony's reaction, it worked, he looked utterly thrown off his game. Just in time too for the elevator to bing again. Even though her desk faced in the opposite direction, she knew exactly who had come onto the floor without even looking. And Bella would have bet everything she owned that they had a new case, so she got up from her chair, swinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"Oh, hi, Boss!" Tony straightened up quickly as Gibbs walked in.

"Gear up. Dead petty officer in a small town called Mystic Falls," the team leader whipped past Bella's desk to his own to grab the cup waiting for him.

As she heard the end of that sentence, the female agent, who was already in the aisle between her own and Tony's desk on her way to the elevator, spun around her heel almost too fast for human speed. Never in a million years did she think that she would have to go back to that place ever again…

* * *

Bella had never been much of a talker, but she was always up for some good-humored jabbing between colleagues to ease the stress of what their job entailed. Dead bodies weren't fun. But not this time. Memories and thoughts associated with their destination flooded her mind.

The place of her transformation, Mystic Falls. The brunette had vowed to leave it all behind, forget it altogether, supernatural and whatnot when she had fled nearly five years ago. Although she hadn't spent much time there, only a mere few weeks, it had changed her forever. Literally  _and_  figuratively speaking.

Much the same as Bella did with Forks. After Edward abandoned her in the woods, to never return, there wasn't really anything left in her birthplace for her. Graduation was pretty much her cue to jump ship and travel the country, trying to find herself. Six months in, she had visited this small town in Virginia, which had promised a much calmer, more normal life than Forks. Everyone was so lovely, she fit right in, making friends instantly. Bella could have imagined living there for a while. Little had she known at the time that she had stumbled upon another supernatural hot-spot. It was as if she was a magnet for it; a magnet for danger for sure.

Bella was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even pick up on the little tell-tale signs that would have told her that her two fellow agents were itching to get her to talk. One of them should have ridden with Gibbs per protocol, but both wanted to find out about her peculiar reaction from earlier, and McGee just hopped in the backseat without complaint when she decided to ride shotgun by DiNozzo.

"You're awfully quiet," Tony remarked with a little concern in his voice, paying her a quick glance. Agent Swan decided to ignore it and continued to stare out the window instead, pretending to be lost in thought. "Are you still hung up on the missing kids?"

"Yeah," she lied effortlessly. Everyone knew how passionate she was about that case. What a great excuse! Too bad that she wasn't really on her ace game in covering her emotions at the moment. No doubt Tony hadn't been fooled either.

"Don't worry, CGIS is on it already, they will be home with their loved ones in no time," the ever-optimistic and care-free agent tried to lighten the mood.

"Is Borin on the case?" Bella asked suddenly turning to Tony, actually curious. She hadn't really followed up on it after getting the word to the partner agency, what with everything that had happened shortly after.  _How differently this day had started out…_

"Yepp," DiNozzo replied quickly, stressing the  _p_.

_At least someone was keeping proper tabs_ , Bella thought.

"Then I have no doubt, it will get done quickly," she considered the conversation ended with that and continued to stare at the trees flashing by them. So much greenery. Although not quite as sickly moss covered like Forks. Another place she wished to never have to think about again.

Tony gave a meaningful look to McGee on the backseat through the rearview mirror, which Bella caught but paid no mind to.

"So I heard you lived in Mystic Falls for a while..." McGee probed carefully, trying to start the conversation back up.

"Heard or more like looked in my file?" the female agent snapped at him, calling his bluff quickly.

"Sorry…" he said guiltily. "I didn't mean to pry, but after your reaction in the bullpen, I had to check. You know… to make sure you have no personal involvement in the case."

"Rule 6, McGee," Bella sighed before continuing. Why apologize for something you'd do again in a heartbeat? "Only for a few weeks, and it was a long time ago. Don't want to talk about it," she said in a clipped tone. The number of reasons could comprise a mile long list. She regretted whole-heartedly registering herself as a permanent resident of this town all those years ago. But she couldn't change the fact, and tampering with federal records was quite risky.

"Okay..." Tim trailed off warily.

"We are almost there," Tony decided to interrupt the awkward exchange.  _Well, that didn't go exactly as planned._  Just what could have possibly happened here to their ever stoic Bella to have her so riled up?


	2. Odd crime scene

No other words had been exchanged the rest of the way. As they passed the "Welcome to Mystic Falls" sign, Bella felt her pulse quicken with anxiety. Sometimes she felt quite fortunate that she was  _this_  kind of a vampire, and not a cold one like Edward was. It made pretenses so much simpler. It also made passing physical exams possible that were required both at MPD and NCIS hiring. Just allowed her to feel human. Well almost human. Close enough. By the time they had pulled into the parking space at the sheriff's station, Bella had gotten herself and her emotions under control.  _There wasn't anything to be worried about_ , she told herself. There was almost zero chance that  _he_  had still hung around this town after all this time. It would have risen too much suspicion since he didn't age. Just like Bella didn't age... she wondered briefly how long she had before she had to inevitably leave NCIS. Before they started noticing...

"Hey, Earth to Probie," Tony pulled her out of her reverie with his joking attitude, waving a hand in front of her face. "We are here."

"You realize I have worked with you for three years, right? I'm not a probationary agent anymore," Bella jabbed right back as she got out of the car. "We should check in with the sheriff first and go examine the scene," she said, willing herself to act in control and professional.

"Okay, lead the way," the boys replied in unison.

As they walked up to the sheriff's office and stepped in, the vampire had to realize that nothing had really changed around here. Still the same old brick building with its archway, full on wooden interior. To her initial surprise, the office was almost empty, none of the deputies were around, only Sheriff Donovan. On second thought, they were probably at the crime scene. Bella was a bit taken aback by the fact that Sheriff Forbes was dead – she saw the memorial plaque in the hallway – wondering just what supernatural scheme or plot – which were constantly running in this town – got to her finally. More importantly, how was Caroline holding up? She had adored her mom. Did she manage not to lose her humanity? Matt looked up from his desk, not recognizing her thankfully.

"You must be the agents from NCIS," he greeted them, getting up and coming around his large – yet again wooden – desk. As a vampire you notice these things, everything is stake material.

"That we are, very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. These are my partners, Timothy McGee and Isabella Swan..." he began charmingly, making Bella want to gag, but she was content with just rolling her eyes. He had tried pulling that on her as well on her very first day… only to end up in a choke hold on the floor of the bullpen. Said that her feistiness reminded him of someone, whatever that meant, but he never tried anything since. Never in a million years would Bella have thought that he indiscriminately went charming everyone of interest. Not even just women.

"Wait, Isabella Swan...?" the sheriff looked at her now again, wide-eyed, suddenly with recognition. "Oh my god, how have you been? I didn't know you became an NCIS agent..." he trailed off, looking confused.

"Hi, Matt. Didn't think you would remember me after all this time... Congratulations on the new position," Agent Swan shrugged, hoping very much that the attention would be taken off of her soon. They had a bloody murder to solve for crying out loud. This wasn't a social call.

"How would I not, with everything that's happened back then..."

Bella shot a warning look at him to not to go into the details.

"Well then, let me show you to the body," he was back to business, thank the heavens.

The vampire could only hope that the exchange didn't pique her inquisitive colleagues' interest.

They walked out and across the town square to a more secluded area of the park, cordoned off by the police. The body was just behind a sitting bench, between two magnolia trees. Not very subtle, not even the semblance of attempting to hide it.

The agents ducked under the yellow police tape and started their usual routine, taking pictures of everything and collecting evidence. That's when Ducky and Palmer arrived – with Gibbs right behind them – and did their part of the examinations.

"What can you tell me, Duck?" the senior agent inquired, while he scanned his gaze over the scene, taking in every detail.

"Time of death is approximately between 1 and 2 AM according to the liver temperature, as for the cause of death we would have to examine the body back at the morgue with Mr. Palmer. We can see no evident external damage except for two puncture wounds on the victim's neck," Ducky concluded, pointing to said puncture wounds. "Also there is almost no blood left in the victim, but there is not nearly enough around the body to account for the blood loss."

"Was he killed somewhere else and dumped here?" Tony asked, coming up with his camera to take closer pictures of the external evidence of trauma on the body.

"That is a distinct possibility, although with no blood in his system, cadaveric lividity is unreliable and rigor mortis hadn't fully set in yet before he was moved if he was," Ducky replied curtly, his thoughts obviously elsewhere.

"There are no blood trails or drag marks leading to the victim from any direction," McGee pointed out after having photographed and tagged every evidence in the close vicinity. "I have also found the victim's ID, and his fingerprints confirm it, this is Petty Officer James Sheridan."

Listening to their exchange, Bella was frozen in a state of shock.  _This can't be happening_ , she thought. How the hell had they ended up at a dead petty officer in Mystic Falls, killed by a vampire nonetheless? And what was Sheriff Donovan thinking! Why had he called NCIS when the hands of supernatural forces were so evident? He was just as inclined to keep this particular secret of the town as anyone else here.

The female agent knew the answer before she even finished her little internal rant. The absence of the petty officer would have been noticed soon enough, and he had probably told somebody that he was coming here. It was more convenient for Matt to report this right away than have to make up excuses later when NCIS came looking on their own. Looked less suspicious. Still, it would have been easier to come up with a cover story. That the petty officer did visit the town but then left, to somewhere unknown.

"Do you know what he was doing here?" the vampire asked the sheriff.

"No. The victim arrived two days ago, got into a verbal altercation at the Grill last night, no one had seen him since until this morning when one of my deputies noticed him lying here. NCIS was called as soon as his Navy ID was discovered," Matt read off his notes that his deputies have provided him with.

 _Who? Who called NCIS?_  Agent Swan screamed internally. Apparently not Matt. He didn't seem that enthusiastic about the higher level agency butting into the investigation, though that was a typical enough attitude from local law enforcement agencies.

"Who did he get into a fight with?" Bella questioned further, staying on the topics that she thought were harmless but that still gave the semblance of her doing her job, without giving away anything that she wasn't as clueless as everyone else in NCIS.

"Jeremy Gilbert. Apparently, the victim made a pass at Bonnie Bennett, and his pursuits weren't appreciated," the sheriff replied with a frown.

"We will have to question both of them," Tony interrupted.

"Sure, I will contact them and have them come to the station," he nodded to the agent.

"Was there any physical violence?" the brunette asked Matt, getting back to their topic.

"Not that we know of," Sheriff Donovan shook his head.

"There are no signs of defensive wounds or bruises that would indicate a struggle," Ducky interjected with his findings. Now that was interesting, but not really surprising. He was probably compelled to stay calm and not struggle.

"So he knew his killer or was incapacitated somehow before he was killed?" McGee theorized.

"That would seem like the case, Timothy. Now, Mr. Palmer, help me get the body back to the van," the M.E. called to his assistant and proceeded with placing the victim on the gurney and into the back of their fourgon.

As Bella watched the coroner car pulling away, headed back to the Navy Yard, her mind started racing. She needed to find out what was going on here without tipping NCIS off. How was she going to manage that? They were not dumb. Farthest from it. Some of the best investigators were in Gibbs's team. She really hoped there could be some other explanation for this, but with this town involved... The vampire didn't think anyone died of "natural" causes here in almost a century...

Tony was watching her intently. He had never seen Bella this tense since she had come to work to NCIS. She was usually the epitome of calm, nothing could faze her, not even the most dangerous situations. She actually volunteered for anything risky, never nervous, and always came out of it unscathed. She was considered a prodigy with a bright future ahead of her in law enforcement at MPD when he had been sent to recruit her.

He was shocked when Tim found out that she had actually lived in this town before. Not that she talked about personal stuff too much; she was sort of a mystery. They knew that her father was a police officer in a small town in Washington State, but that was about it. He wondered what it was about this town that made her so anxious.

Unfortunately for him, Bella caught him staring at her with a concerned look.

"Let's get back to work, shall we?" she said, trying to get the attention off of herself. She looked around the crime scene one more time in case anything got missed. After all, she had the sight of a vampire.

Soon enough Bella spotted a small syringe under a nearby bush, hidden almost entirely, no wonder Tim didn't see it earlier.

"Hey look at this!" she called to the others while snapping a few photos then bagging the evidence, almost instantly regretting it. If it weren't for the gloves she was wearing, it would have burned her skin. Luckily this way she only felt a little heat on her fingertips and no one noticed her momentary discomfort. It was a vervain syringe.

"We should send it to Abby, maybe this was used to incapacitate the petty officer. There could still be trace amounts of the substance in it, and maybe even fingerprints of the killer if we are lucky," DiNozzo remarked hopefully. So far there wasn't much they could go on in the case.

The female agent already knew that wasn't the case. Vervain wouldn't have any effects on humans, at least that they would be able to detect, but would render a vampire unable to compel them. Given that there was no sign of struggle, she was inclined to rule out that the petty officer had used it on himself. She very much doubted there would be an entry wound for that syringe anywhere on Sheridan's body. Her primary concern was that if it was at the crime scene, then either the victim or someone else who was here around the time of the murder knew about vampires. Well, the latter wouldn't be so surprising, but the former option was troubling. She handed the bag to Tony.

"If you are finished here, head back to the station and question our suspects," Gibbs called out to them.

Now, this would be a compelling interrogation. Quite literally if Bella got her way.

* * *

Jeremy and Bonnie came to the sheriff's station with Matt about an hour later. Tony handled the questioning since Bella knew them personally from the time she had lived here. He started with Jeremy.

"So tell us what happened last night at the Mystic Grill," Tony started off in his usual calm manner. No need to intimidate the person of interest right away. The rest of the team watched on the other side of the one-way glass.

"It was a usual night, me and my girlfriend, Bonnie, went out for drinks and to play pool. Until a guy came up to Bonnie and started harassing her. She told the guy she wasn't interested, when he didn't listen, I told the same with a little more force. We had a few heated words, he left," he summarized the events of the night.

"When was this?" the agent asked for specifics.

"Around 9:45, 10 PM maybe," Jeremy told him. Bella hoped very much that he could go through this questioning without lying but also not giving away too much.

"Is this the guy?" he showed Jeremy the picture of the dead petty officer.

"Yes. But he was very much alive when he left the grill…" the boy looked up, unfazed. Maybe a bit too calmly. There wasn't even a hint of surprise on his face.  _Witnessing so much death did make you numb a bit_ , the vampire had to admit.

"So haven't seen him since your little battle of words?" Tony made him clarify, his tone getting a bit testy.

"No. I haven't seen him since," the Gilbert boy affirmed.

"You don't seem too surprised about his fate."

 _Damn_ , Bella thought. He had caught onto that too.

"This is a small town, pretty much everybody knows already that they found a dead guy in the town square. I had no idea that it was the same guy that had bothered Bonnie," Jeremy replied instantly, keeping his cool. There wasn't even a hint of body language that would have suggested lying.

"Anything else you can tell us about that night? Did the victim say anything? Where he was headed, or what he was doing in this town?" DiNozzo asked finally.  _Good_ , Bella nodded internally. That went well.

"Not really, he was kind of out of it, desperate even, but didn't really say anything, just kept pestering Bonnie to go to his table and have a chat with him."

Tony finished up pretty quickly as they didn't have anything linking him to the scene to suspect him. DiNozzo did tell him not to leave town in case they had more questions. Bella didn't really think this was Jeremy's doing but also had the feeling that he probably knew more than he let on which meant supernatural involvement. She wondered if the petty officer's advances towards Bonnie were not the romantic kind, but he was looking for a witch. For what possible reason would he need a witch? The vampire decided to try and catch Jeremy later to get more information in private. This case was just getting better and better.

While she was busy in thought Tony came out of the "interrogation room" – really it was more like a little office, nothing like what they had at NCIS headquarters – he looked at her with concern again.

"What?" Bella asked with annoyance.

"I don't know. You just seem off since we came here. Is everything alright?" DiNozzo replied with a question of his own as he leaned against the wall in the small room adjacent to the interrogation room.

"Bad memories that's all. Nothing for you to worry about," she huffed. She hated when people wanted to dig into her past. Gibbs wordlessly regarded the exchange.

"Okay, you know where to find me in case you want to talk to someone," he offered sincerely. Since when did Tony care about her? He usually just teased her and got on her nerves with his movie references… What has gotten into him suddenly? Bella very much hoped that this would not be a problem.

Bonnie's questioning didn't give them any new information compared to Jeremy's, which didn't surprise the vampire, but something was up for sure.

Gibbs sent Tim to Norfolk to search the petty officer's apartment and laptop, ask around his office and colleagues at the Naval Station, hopefully, able to discover something that might turn other possible suspects up.


	3. Friend or foe?

It was getting late, and the guys went to check into the only motel in town. Meanwhile, Bella decided to find Bonnie and Jeremy, and do some digging on her own, after ditching her NCIS garb. Her excuse was that she was going to catch up with some old acquaintances and maybe find out more about their case without the formal setting and with some friendly inquiry. That was the god's honest truth, just depending on her findings she wasn't going to share them with the team, or only a watered down, safe version of it.

But not even five minutes after leaving their lodgings, instead of her intended targets, the vampire ran into the last person she wanted to see…

"Well hello, sugarplum… Fancy to see you around after all these years," a dark-haired figure from the shadows greeted her.

"Damon…" the agent muttered to herself exasperatedly as she paused in her tracks.

"I am happy to see you haven't forgotten me, beautiful," he commented with his usual cocky smirk finally coming into view.

"It's not so easy to forget someone who had ruined your life," Bella spat with disdain.

"Don't be like that, sweetheart. We had a good time, I even made you a vampire," Damon pouted with a mock hurt voice, stepping closer to the girl.

Backing away a few steps, she glanced around quickly and listened for signs whether the humans mulling the street not too far off noticed anything odd about the exchange or not, making sure no one heard that last part. He had been speaking in a quite low tone, so probably no one without supersensitive hearing should have caught that, but better be on the safe side.

"Yeah, you forget the fact that I never wanted to become one. So I would say you killed me and robbed me of the chance to ever have a normal life again," the brunette hissed, leaving out the part that there once was a time when she had wished for Edward to change her. Little had she known back then that they weren't the only kinds of vampires, but after the Cullens left – her so-called boyfriend abandoning her in the woods no less – Bella had no intention of living forever.

She saw a flash of sorrow and regret wash over his face, but it was gone as fast it came, if she weren't a vampire, she probably wouldn't have even noticed it.

"I would say you are doing just fine, being an NCIS agent and all," he remarked dryly with a roll of his eyes, recovering quickly from that little lapse in his façade.

"How would you know about that?" Bella inquired pointedly, crossing her arms. She wanted out of this conversation fast.

"Besides the fact that I saw you all afternoon around a dead body, collecting evidence in an NCIS jacket and cap?" Damon quipped with that trademark smirk again. The girl always wondered how he managed to be ever so sarcastic and oddly alluring at the same time. Internally she groaned at the fact that he was stalking her.

"Did you kill the petty officer?" Agent Swan questioned bluntly. He was officially a suspect in her books from now on. Why else was he lurking around the scene?

"Would you believe me if I said no?" he asked right back, winking at her.

"Probably not, but humor me," the brunette sighed, not easing up on her defensive stance.

"I didn't kill him. It was Klaus actually," the vampire remarked as he leaned against the brick wall casually.

"Wow, so forthcoming," it was Bella's turn to roll her eyes. "What's with the honesty? If, in fact, you are telling the truth."

"Because I want you to trust me," Damon sincerely revealed with a shrug.

"And why would I do that?" she quirked her brow. Like that was going to happen.

Unbidden memories flooded her mind of the man forcing her to drink his blood only five weeks after moving to Mystic Falls on that cold February evening. Then the snapping of her neck. Later coming to with an unbearable burning in her throat…

The brunette had believed back then that they were friends. Elena, Jeremy, Bonnie, Stefan, Caroline… even Damon had been there for her despite his bad boy demeanor. Bella had figured out their respective secrets quickly enough, having had encountered supernatural before, but she didn't mind because they had all appeared to welcome her as one of their own, and they had seemed in control of what they were. His betrayal just stung even more given everything that she had shared with him.

"You'll see," he said mysteriously. In a flash, he was by her side and murmured in her ear, "See you later Bella." And with that, he was gone. That must have been the first time he had actually called her by her given name and not some idiotic endearment.

_And what fucking problem would Klaus even have with a Navy Officer? Geez, James Sheridan… what did you get yourself into?_

With a shudder, Bella started walking again towards the Gilbert home, hoping to see some more welcome faces.

* * *

Standing still on a roof only a few buildings away, Damon watched her go, his face in a scowl.

He never would have thought she would return. Not after what he had done to her. Or what she thought he had done to her. She had been heartbroken, a shell of herself when she had arrived in Mystic Falls, looking for a place to get away from her supernatural problems – vampires, or rather what she believed were vampires, the cold ones; and werewolves – more like shape-shifters, but who cares. Too bad Mystic Falls was just another supernatural hub like Forks.

Not to worry, she had realized that soon enough. Her keen observation skills and previous experiences had outed Damon almost instantly to her when he had first approached her after arriving. Not to mention that failed compelling. He didn't know what had drawn him to her, but he just couldn't resist. She had trusted him with her secrets, why she had fled Forks, how the cold ones had abandoned her. Probably in an attempt to warn him off, Damon thought, but it had just made her even more appealing in his eyes. She wasn't kidding when she said she was a danger magnet and he just wanted to protect her from it all. As far he knew she had never told the others about her history, which made it even more precious for the dark-haired vampire.

The fact of the matter was Damon had saved her life when he had fed her his blood and turned her. That red-headed cold one, who had been still seeking revenge for her mate, had found her and had been lurking around town for at least two weeks. Bella hadn't even known that Victoria was tracking her. Vampires are stronger and faster than cold ones, even as newborns so Victoria would have probably backed off when he changed Bella, but Damon had killed the ginger anyway just to make sure that this particular threat never followed her again. But now that she had returned, her life might be in jeopardy still after all, because there were other dangers out there too.

What he had failed to calculate into his plan and foresee the consequences of was that she had been bitten by a cold one previously and miraculously had not been changed. So imagine his surprise when she turned and sunlight didn't burn her even without a daylight ring. The vampire thought it would be for the best if no one – not even she – knew that somehow she became a hybrid of the two vampire species. She was safer away from here, doing her thing with NCIS, the police or whatever other line of work she would have chosen. But now she had come back… and surely the spirits were growing restless. Whispering their maliciousness to whoever was willing to listen…

Damon knew for a fact that this mess was Klaus's doing. What he didn't know was if this was a coincidence or if the murder of the petty officer was a deliberate rouse to get her back in this town? Could the Original possibly know that Bella was a hybrid? He  _had been_  in town when she was turned…

* * *

Bella stood perplexedly in front of the house – or better put, the remains of the house – that used to be Elena's and Jeremy's home. It had been burned to the ground. And not recently, two years or so ago, judging from the level of decay and nature claiming it back as its own. What had happened here?

"What do you want here, leech?" a familiar voice called out to her threateningly from behind her, followed by the sound of a crossbow clicking in place.

 _How did Jeremy manage to sneak up on me?_  And then it came back to her. Right, he had been starting to become a hunter when shit had blown up in her face, and she had left town without so much as a word.

Slowly, holding her hands in the air, Bella turned around.

"Bella?" as the Gilbert boy recognized her in bewilderment, his hold on the bow slackened a bit. It was loaded with a wooden spike as Agent Swan had anticipated.

"I can explain, and I mean no harm. Could we maybe talk somewhere private? Without the stakes perhaps?" she suggested, nodding towards the contraption still pointed at her, but at least not directly at her heart anymore. Nevertheless, that would hurt like a motherfucker.

"How do I know it wasn't you who killed the Navy guy in the town square?" Jeremy tensed back up as the thought crossed his mind. A newcomer vampire showed up in town, and they had a possible crisis on hand? Surely not coincidental.

"Because I'm here with NCIS, investigating said murder?" Bella very slowly reached down to her waist, revealing her belt clip badge under her leather jacket. That made the boy think for a second, so she continued. "And, though I'm not sure how much my word means to you, I have never tasted human blood, from the vein or a bag for that matter. I live off of animals."

Evidently, she had her thirst under control if she could work in law enforcement without problems, right? Even if she was a relatively new vampire. Couldn't be older than five. She hadn't been one when she had lived here…

"How did this happen?" the hunter asked finally, more sympathetically, letting the bow fall slackly by his thigh.

"Long story, let's get off the street first, okay?" the brunette insisted, glancing around nervously. She was starting to feel paranoid with all this open talk of supernatural when there were two other NCIS agents in town.

"I know just the place," the boy smirked, beckoning her to follow him.

* * *

"You've have got to be kidding me!" Bella begrudgingly exclaimed once she realized that they were headed to the Salvatore Boarding House, the outline of the structure peeking through the thick canopy of trees, only visible to her senses for now.

"Why? It's the best hideaway. Damon and Stefan are not in town right now," Jeremy explained with a confused frown at her vehement reaction.

"You are wrong on at least one account. Damon is here alright, and I have no intention of running into him two times in one night," the agent protested again, her face in a distressed, faraway look that the hunter had seen on her many times in the past, but she had never cared to elaborate on what was causing it. Jeremy could only guess that it was something the older Salvatore did this time.

"Okay… Don't get me wrong, I know Damon can be a douchebag, but you two were practically best buds back then."

It was true, out of the whole gang they had seemed to be getting along the best, spending long hours talking by themselves. Jeremy had assumed Damon used it as a good distraction from Elena, who he couldn't have at the time because of Stefan. He wasn't sure what the brunette got out of it.

"Yes, until he snapped my neck with his blood in my system," the girl huffed with as much sarcasm and disdain in her voice as she could manage as they reached the front door.  _Oh, the memories this place held._

"Ah," the Gilbert boy sighed with realization. "Well, that explains quite a lot, why you left so suddenly."

"Anyway, what happened to your house?" Bella changed subjects once they stepped inside, not wanting to dwell on her woes for too long. She had made peace with what she had become already. But that didn't mean she had forgiven her former friend.

The rustic interior evoked visions of the gang sitting by the fireplace, talking all night among themselves, with Damon especially. She suppressed them deeper into her psyche.

"That's a long story. Elena became a vampire, then later I died. She lost it and in her grief burnt the place down then switched her humanity off," the hunter nonchalantly revealed while pouring himself a scotch from the Salvatores' collection.  _Was he even legal yet?_  Bella wondered for a second before concluding that he should be turning 21 that year. Technically she herself was frozen in time at nineteen, but vampirism and makeup tended to help with that, she looked solidly twenty-three, the age she would have been if left human.

"WHAT? But you are here… does this mean she's gone off on a rampage? Where is she now? Did  _she_  kill the petty officer?" her mind was reeling with the possible scenarios.

"Calm down. That's not all. I was brought back by Bonnie. Too long of a story again. Elena is human again since then too…" Jeremy scratched his head, trying to gather his thoughts on all that's happened. "There was a cure… Only one though…" he added when Bella's face lit up with hope, then continued to bring her up to speed on where his sister was at now. "God, this is so fucked up… her life is now linked with Bonnie's, and until she's alive, Elena is in a semi-dead state, in deep slumber. By the way, Stefan and Elena broke up… she is with Damon now."

"Wow… and I thought  _my_  life was a mess…" the agent slumped back against the couch. A cure for vampirism would have been nice.  _Elena and Damon, huh…_  She knew he had a thing for the doppelganger, never really understood why he was hanging out with her instead of trying to win the other brunette over from Stefan. "But who killed our victim then? Has _he_  gone off the deep end? Didn't seem like it… but…"

"All we know for sure is that Klaus is back in town. Seems like his MO, stirring the pot and manipulating everyone into getting what he wants. Supposedly he is after some hybrid vampire. For what end and who that person is exactly we don't know. I didn't even know there were different kinds of vampires until the spirits spoke to Bonnie about it," he explained exasperatedly.

Bella's blood froze for a second, glancing down at the pale scar on her wrist. Damon wasn't lying about Klaus then. And she  _had been_  nearly turned into a cold one before… some venom had inevitably lingered in the scar afterward, giving it that weird iridescent glow she had always found fascinating. Not to mention that there were some oddities about herself that she couldn't explain, some things that didn't make sense based on her research into regular vampires. Could it be that she was the one Klaus was after? The murder of the Navy Officer would fit if it were aimed to lure her back into Mystic Falls, provided he somehow found out that she was with NCIS, betting on the fact that her team would be the one dispatched.

"Jeremy… there is something I have to tell you. Possibly everyone," the brunette glanced up with trepidation. She didn't really want to rehash her past, but it seemed like there was no other choice.

The hunter studied her for a second. Whatever she had to say must have been serious.

"Alright, I'll call Bonnie and anyone else I can get back here. Stefan and Caroline for sure… And Alaric, although he is a bit preoccupied right now…" he cut himself off. The dead wife story surely could wait. "Maybe Damon could be of help if you can manage him," he tried running a list of people who he thought could be conducive to the situation.

"I…" Bella wanted to protest for a second. No, it was better if he came, at least to make sure they could keep an eye on him, so he didn't go and cross whatever plan they came up with by just accident. "Fine."

"It's really late. Tomorrow evening, here?" Jeremy suggested since Stefan, Caroline, and Rick would surely need time to get back into town.

"That should be fine. Around 8 PM maybe," she just had to come up with some excuse to ditch her colleagues again. "Also… I'm not really fond of the idea… but we need a scapegoat to pin the murder on so that NCIS leaves town before it explodes in their faces if we want to keep the supernatural world hidden. But I think we have enough time till tomorrow to think on that. I'll know more by then on what they have found out from the evidence they collected so far too."


	4. Guilty or innocent?

On her way back, she decided to take a detour into the woods to feed on some deer that always managed to venture too close to town. Bella had no idea how the permanent vampire residence didn't ward them off. The affair was unavoidable, it has been a week since she last got to proper sustenance – human food was bearable for pretenses but did nothing for her thirst – and she wasn't sure when she would get the chance to feed next. The vampire girl had excellent control over her thirst, she had never before experienced the veined eyes frenzy she had read about, but it was better to play it safe. She also made sure to keep her mealtime very clean. The last thing she needed was trying to explain blood stains, even if it wasn't human blood.

"Find out anything, Probie?" Tony greeted her with the question the instant she stepped into their lodging. There had only been two free rooms available at the motel, and somehow Bella ended up with him as a roommate. Strictly speaking, this was better than with Gibbs and his uncanny ability to see through everyone, but she would have preferred Tim staying in Mystic Falls instead. He had a stable relationship with Delilah, wouldn't have tried anything… whereas with DiNozzo… you never knew what was just friendly jabbing or real flirting. At least they had two double beds…

"Nothing," she snapped at him as she threw her jacket on the bed, quickly grabbing some slacks and a T-shirt to change into, and headed for the bathroom to take a shower. She needed time to think, to sort through the happenings of the day, and to carefully come up with a plausible alternative to the truth that she could share with NCIS, hopefully satisfactorily closing the investigation down.

When she reemerged, he was still sitting in the same spot as before, intently waiting for her.

"What's got you so riled up?" the male agent inquired further. Bella sighed heavily.

"Ran into an old flame. He stirred up some hurtful stuff," the vampire lied, sitting down on her bed with her back to Tony. Technically that was somewhat true. She was never sure what it was they had with Damon. At least Jeremy's revelation helped to clear that up. She had been nothing but a distraction back then until he waited his time out for his brother's girl. "Also learned that some friends of mine have died," she added with a quick glance over her shoulder.

Liz  _was_  dead. And who knew what was registered officially about Elena since probably she won't "come back to life" for another 50-60 years so this might be a great cover for her absentmindedness if anyone asked. She just had to make sure to check the records to keep her story straight. So many fucking lies in her life. On second thought, there had been countless other deaths in town in the last five years. Regardless of where they stood, her friends' or their enemies' side, she felt like mourning each and every one of them.

"Sorry to hear that," Tony offered sympathetically, standing up to come over to sit by his partner, really wanting to comfort her, causing her to peek up from her melancholy thoughts. Although he had to wonder just how close those friends had been if she hadn't kept in touch with them for the last five years since she lived here.

"Tomorrow, when we are done, I want to go out to the cemetery to visit them if that's okay with Gibbs," there, perfect excuse to go off alone in the evening again.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind," DiNozzo thoughtfully assured her.

"Any word back from Ducky or Abby?" Agent Swan switched topics back to their investigation while she towel dried her hair.

After this case was all done, she was going to hand in her resignation, she decided. Klaus was truly immortal, so even if she managed to keep NCIS off his scent this time, it was too much of a risk to stay close to them. And even if a white oak stake just happened to land in her hands right that moment, killing Klaus would mean killing his entire sire line, including Caroline, Stefan, Damon, and even herself although with the venom in her system she might survive.

"So far, absolutely nothing. No prints or any other traces, not even DNA on the tip of the syringe which was previously filled with some herb that Abby has identified as verbena. It's possible that it has nothing to do with the case since the only thing she could tell us is that the aerial parts of the plant can be used in traditional medicine for the stimulation of lactation, treatment of dysmenorrhea, jaundice, gout, kidney stones, headache, depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Seems more like something the ladies would use at that time of the month than something the petty officer would need," the light-brown haired agent grinned at her suggestively, causing the vampire to groan frustratedly at him, rolling her eyes. Comments like this were the bane of her existence.

"The cause of death is exsanguination. Ducky is thoroughly baffled about how though. No entry marks for the syringe, or any other external signs beside the two puncture wounds he noted in his initial report. The incisions were made by a pair of roundish objects, no longer than half an inch. Also no other traces or prints on the victim's body either. Tox report is not back yet," Tony finished bringing her up to speed after having his fill of fun with teasing her.

Bella wasn't even sure how to react to that. Was Klaus really this meticulous? As things seemed right now, this would become a cold case unless someone confessed.

"Tim and I were starting to jest that this was either the perfect murder or a vampire was lurking in these parts. Gibbs wasn't impressed with us, of course," the male agent laughed out, enjoying his own joke, probably based on the many vampire movies he had seen. Some were more spot on than others, Swan had to admit, and chuckled with him to maintain her cover.

"Yeah, just imagine that. It would be a forensic nightmare if these things actually existed," the brunette managed with as much sarcasm as she possibly could, rolling her eyes as she fell back onto her towel on the bed.

"Do you believe in these things?" DiNozzo probed on second thought.

"What do I believe in?" Bella turned her head towards him with furrowed brows. She knew exactly what he was getting at, but her reaction to these questions was crucial, so she had to maintain the façade of confusion.

"Vampires and stuff," he theatrically whirled his hand around to make his point about all of this.

"You are kidding, right?" Bella frowned at him pointedly, propping herself up on her elbows. "You know me. I'm a down to earth kind of girl. I only believe what I can see and touch." S _o_  true, but she also  _had_  seen and touched the supernatural before and not just vampires… not to mention one looked at her in the mirror every morning.

"I suppose. So besides exes, did you get to talk to any of the town folk?" Tony asked to get back to business.

"I tried asking around, but no one saw anything," she shook her head dejectedly. Mentioning Elena and the burned down house would have been a big mistake. Same with her run-in with the girl's brother, however enlightening that talk might have been for her personally.

"Alright, get some sleep, we have a long day tomorrow," the agent said, patting her shoulder reassuringly, then got up and went back to his own bed.

Sleep didn't come easily to either of them, Bella mulling over her options against Klaus, while Tony tried to pinpoint the exact source of the uneasy feeling he got. His partner hadn't lied to him per se… but something was fishy.

The dark-haired guy Swan bumped into first after she left could have been the old fling she was talking about, they seemed really standoffish with each other from the distance he had followed her since Gibbs asked him to keep an eye on her. He didn't really have a clear view of them, the guy was partially hidden by the brick wall of the alleyway he was standing in, his back to the agent, and he did leave quickly enough afterward.

Bella walked a few streets down to a house next which had been burnt down. That seemed to have caught her by surprise. Especially Jeremy showing up not long after, threatening her with a crossbow nonetheless, although he did back down when she showed him her badge, so it could have been family property and he thought she was trespassing.

But then she willingly went with him to another big estate. Was the death of a friend related to the Gilbert boy? That's what they were talking about? Tony hadn't waited for her to come back out so technically she could have tried speaking to residents afterward, but it was past midnight by the time she got back. Who would be out on the streets at this time? And what was she doing with their only suspect?

* * *

The next morning wildly unexpected news greeted them. Sherriff Donovan had come over to inform the NCIS agents that one Joey Bates had given himself up at the station, claiming that he murdered James Sheridan. Several things came to Bella's mind, none of which had she voiced:

_One_ , obviously it wasn't him. She just couldn't see how a human could do damage mimicking a vampire.

_Two_ , someone was pulling one hell of a fucked up, twisted Swan (alright, alright… she named her technique of getting criminals to confess with a little push on compulsion after herself… but she never fed the crimes they should come clean about to them… only that they should give themselves up).

_Three_ , either Jeremy had already talked to some of their vampire acquaintances – one of whom took it upon themselves to compel a poor bloke to take the fall (yeah, she knew that was exactly what they were planning to do, but it would have been carefully set up, possibly someone who was already evading the law with something similar) – or Klaus was somehow eavesdropping on them at the Salvatore home, which meant that it wasn't a safe house anymore.

She would have to check with the boy to find out which was the case. But for now… they had a suspect to question. Since they had no tangible evidence, everything stood or fell on whether Joey could adequately and precisely describe what he did to the satisfaction of their coroner, having it matched with their autopsy findings.

"What do we know about this guy?" Gibbs inquired from the team in the antechamber of the interrogation room, scrutinizing their suspect through the one-way mirror.

"Joey Bates, 31, a resident of Charlottesville. Works at the UVA Hospital as a registered nurse practitioner. Only relatives in the area were his sister, Kris Cooke, and her husband, his brother-in-law, Tripp Cooke, previously known as Thomas Vincent Fell III, a descendant of one of the founding families of Mystic Falls but later changed his name to his mother's maiden name.  _Wow_ , throwing away a name with so much history? At least he didn't take up his wife's last name," Tony suddenly interrupted himself with a short rant on the manliness of husbands conforming to family traditions the other way around.

That is until Gibbs slapped him hard across the back of his head. Bella wanted to smirk at her boss to express her shared disapproval of the misogynistic notion, but his sharp gaze made her back off.

"Right, back to business. Both deceased by now. Tripp passed just last year, per the report he fell off the roof of his house while doing repairs, and snapped his neck. Kris died in a car crash ten years ago, where Tripp was the driver. Supposedly Joey was in town the day before yesterday visiting her grave. No previous criminal record, only a couple of unpaid parking tickets. There doesn't seem to be any connection to our victim," Tony listed off from his tablet connected to their databases and the info they've gathered in the last hour since the suspect landed in their lap, plus what Tim could provide them with based on the interviews with his CO and coworkers. He had also enlisted Abby in helping to sort through the data pulled from Sheridan's laptop.

"Dig deeper. There has to be something," the senior agent insisted, sipping on his coffee. It was just too easy, way too easy. Where was the motive? Evidence? Why would he give himself up? "Swan, you're up, question Bates."

Bella picked the file up without question or hesitation, heading for the door to make her way to the adjacent room, but internally she debated with herself on how she should play this. A nurse practitioner, probably a good man. Could her conscience handle it if she let him take the fall? If he was compelled, should she try breaking the effects with her own? With everyone watching from right behind her back?

For once she was going with the good cop approach, so she grabbed a cup of coffee from the communal station before entering. Although based on the vile taste precinct coffee usually had, it was debatable whether this was indeed a friendly opening.

"Hi, Joey. I can call you Joey, right?" the agent greeted the dark-brown haired man, placing the paper cup in front of the suspect before slowly and deliberately taking her place on the other side of the table. Mr. Bates just glanced up at her, nodding, before reaching for the cup and taking a sip, his face contorting in a little frown at the bitterness of it.

"I believe you have been read your rights and you have refused to have a lawyer present," Bella stated, reading off from the file. She could practically hear Gibbs grunt in frustration at what she was doing, the last thing he would want was the guy lawyering up. Rule 13: Never, ever involve lawyers. Not that the question really mattered with the compulsion, which he was undoubtedly under. He had no free will at the moment, and there was no way of proving it officially, but this was an excellent initial shot for the vampire to test her theory.

"Yes, I don't want a lawyer," Joey confirmed without a blink of an eye.  _Well, that went just as expected._  If Leroy Jethro Gibbs would have been a sighing kind of guy he undoubtedly would have in relief, but alas he was the silently glaring type. Bella could almost feel his piercing gaze on the back of her head.

"Alright, want to tell us what happened?" she started off gently, seeking the eye contact that she never really received from him, his gaze dancing around the room. She only got a few, fraction of a second glimpses of his pale blue eyes. The more she looked at him, the more she thought he could pass for a slightly less handsome version of Damon, having more roundish features than the vampire's angular jawline. Bella pulled herself out of that reverie quickly. Even the idea that she was thinking about Damon was disconcerting.

"I killed him. I killed James," he admitted right off the bat, his face in an unemotional mask despite the severity of the things he was saying.

"How did you know the victim?" the agent inquired, going through proper protocol to set up motive. Her boss had been wondering about these things anyway. And maybe, just maybe, Klaus slipped up somewhere, and she had a chance of getting this poor guy off the hook. The Original wasn't a trained forensic analyst, hopefully, knew nothing of the criteria they had to meet for a proper conviction, although who knew what he had picked up in his thousand-year lifespan.

"We met outside the grill. He seemed like a nice guy. We hit it off," the suspect shrugged nonchalantly.

Bella raised a brow at that, the team on the other side of the glass probably doing the same. The petty officer was gay? She wasn't judging at all, but they had seen no indication of that whatsoever. Although with the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the US Armed Forces that wasn't too surprising. Still, they had found nothing on his personal laptop that even remotely suggested that James Sheridan ever had a homosexual relationship or that he frequented bars, websites or any other place linked to that orientation.

"When did you meet exactly?" Agent Swan questioned further.

"A bit after 10 PM I think," Joey stated slightly too quickly. People, when telling the truth, usually needed a little time to recall specific details. But so far it fit, according to Jeremy, Sheridan left the grill around that time.

"Have you ever seen the petty officer before this?" Bella went to explore the nature of their relationship.

"No," the suspect bluntly replied.

"Not even online? Or had contact on the phone?"

Abby should have found clues in the phone records or internet history, if there were calls or emails exchanged, or they visited dating websites that they had contact over. But they could have used more roundabout ways if they genuinely wanted to keep it secret. Like setting up burner phones or email accounts for just this purpose then only using them from various cafés.

"No," yet again curt and unwavering.

"Did you have plans for meeting here in Mystic Falls?" she tried wording it differently, attempting to get around the compulsion if that was blocking the truth.

"No."

_Okay_ , Bella admitted internally,  _this isn't going anywhere_.

"So it was purely coincidental that you guys met outside of a bar, and instantly felt a connection towards each other?" the agent surmised, leaning back away from the suspect to indicate with her body language that she wasn't too happy with him at the moment.

"That's correct," Joey nodded. Bella wanted to roll her eyes. Klaus was either a romantic at heart or knew jack-shit about setting up proper connections. Or had watched too many romcoms that had melted his brain similarly to Tony's (not that he would ever admit to watching them, especially without out lady company, but the references he made sometimes… let's just say they spoke for themselves).

"Where did you go afterward?" Bella switched to trying to establish the timeline since the questioning of the prior connection seemed like a dead end.

"I drove us to my home in Charlottesville," he responded without hesitation.

Straight off? No "let's get a drink, get to know each other" or "have dinner with me"? What was the petty officer thinking? Getting into the car of a complete stranger? Was he under compulsion too? Probably!

"Where is that exactly?" she asked without missing a beat, for fact-checking if nothing else, letting her mind process her thoughts regarding Klaus's involvement in the background.

"428 Monroe Lane, Apartment 2A."

Bella glanced at the file that held the same information, she assumed Gibbs was already telling Tony to arrange the search warrant if he hadn't already so that they could check the place out for evidence.

"It's a good place… close to the hospital too, practically no commute," Joey muttered the last part to himself, just a tiny hint of sorrow in his voice.

"What happened when you got there?" Agent Swan questioned further, searching for his gaze again, but he was intently staring at his cuffed hands. Maybe the compulsion was somehow wearing off? He started behaving differently.

"We had a glass of wine, talked. Then James started going on and on about Kris, how he knew about everything. That she wasn't killed in a car crash. Insisting Tripp had nothing to do with it! I couldn't stand James japing on about my family, so I snapped. And killed him," Mr. Bates confessed yet again.

Now came the make or break it part. Bella less subtly sought out his eye contact to ask the next question. Luckily her back was to Gibbs, and from behind the glass or from the camera that was surely recording the interrogation the dilation of his pupils wouldn't be seen.

"Tell me the truth in detail. What did you do to the petty officer?" the vampire asked instead of following up on his sister's death. For some reason, she had the feeling that might have been a vampire attack too, and they didn't need that can of worms opened on top of everything else.

For a moment the brunette hoped that by some miracle, with her being a hybrid, she could override Klaus's superior compulsion that was supposed to work even on vampires. Compared to his previous answers Joey hesitated a bit, but then after a sigh, he continued speaking, his voice becoming bone chilling though.

"I hooked him up to the dialysis machine that I have at home. But instead of filtering his blood back into him, I drained it all into blood bags. It took a good two hours, but it was worth it. I drove back to Mystic Falls around 3 AM and dumped him at the town square. Then in the morning I went into work and deposited his precious donation at the hospital blood bank. Good stuff. O negative. Probably all used up by now too for surgeries," he revealed in an eerily calm manner.

Bella listened in horror, another possibility coming to her mind. Maybe Mr. Bates really did commit this crime, possibly not even under compulsion, and wasn't merely confessing to it because of being under its influence while being innocent.

"And the victim just let you?"

_Right, Sheridan was a 6'2, well-built and trained Navy officer, he should have put up a fight._

"A bit of lower ether did the trick of knocking him out."

_Not to mention he could have been under Klaus's compulsion to let Joey do whatever he wanted._

"Where did you insert the needles?" Bella asked for more details after a practically invisible uneasy swallow.

"Into his neck, right into his jugular vein. I also tweaked the bases of the needles so that they made the impression of vampire fangs when fully inserted. James seemed obsessed with them, so I thought why not give him what he wanted. Death by a vampire," the timid nurse practitioner was entirely gone now, a slightly mad grin appearing on the man's face, and if Bella had been remotely capable of puking, she would have, hearing that description in that creepy tone. Ironically enough, in her human life, the only thing that had ever made her queasy or faint was the smell of blood. But this. This might as well had been pulled right from a horror movie script.

"Because he slandered your sister's memory?" the agent tried to reiterate what the motive was really. Besides the fact that he appeared to be a complete psycho at the moment. Could compulsion really do this? Or was this some hidden facet of Joey's personality that was brought to the surface?

"No one talks shit about my family and gets away with it!" this must have been a genuine feeling because for once he wasn't in a syrupy, trance-like state, but burst out in anger, slamming his cuffed hands on the table.

"Has there been others? People not 'getting away' with talking shit about your family?"

_Good point, maybe Klaus had been meticulous to the extreme and got a secret serial killer to do his bidding._

"No. James was my first. But if you don't put me away now, surely he wouldn't be the last," Mr. Bates glanced up at his interrogator, sneering.

"Why give yourself up, Joey, if that was your plan?" the vampire had to wonder, so she asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"You know how sometimes you tell yourself that you have a choice, but really you don't have a choice? Just because there are alternatives doesn't mean they apply to you," the man cocked his head to the right intently gazing at her.

There were so many layers to that quote that could apply to the situation, Bella couldn't even begin to count, but most importantly that was a personal message from Klaus to her. There was no running.


	5. The one behind it all

Behind the glass, DiNozzo made a face. "Was he just quoting Rick Yancey?" he asked rhetorically, but Gibbs paid no mind to him, his eyes on his other underling.

Suddenly they saw Swan springing to her feet, files in hand, making a beeline for the door, so Tony quickly grabbed the door handle on his side to meet her outside.

"Not now," Bella glared at him before he could say a word, slapping the manila folder against his chest as she stormed by him. They had everything they needed, and if not, Tony or Gibbs could just go in and continue with the questioning. "I need some fresh air."

The special agent wanted to follow his partner to find out what had riled her up so much in the seemingly straightforward interrogation – mind you, it was disturbing, but she had handled others much worse without any problems – Gibbs stopped him though, with his arm outstretched in front of the other man's chest.

"Give her time," was all he said with that mysterious all-knowingness. The light-brown haired man stood there dumbfounded for a whole minute before the senior agent snapped at him. "Don't you have something to do?"

"Right. On it, Boss," he scurried off to consult with Ducky and Abby on their findings whether they were consistent with the information the suspect had provided and to nudge the search warrant along with McGee.

* * *

Bella burst out of the station, the doors swinging wide from the force she put into the motion, her vampire strength barely contained. She looked around frantically, trying to find a good place where she could hide for a few minutes to catch her breath and gather her thoughts. Strictly speaking, she didn't need to breathe to survive, but she still felt like hyperventilating at the moment.

The vampire ducked into the alleyway by the left side of the station and slumped with her back against the brick wall, slowly sliding down into a sitting position, resting her head between her knees.

Five years of relative peace. Was that all she was entitled to? What did Klaus want with her? Kill her? Use her up in some twisted ritual to gain access to her weird hybrid capabilities that even she hadn't fully explored yet? Like he wanted to use Elena's doppelganger nature for unlocking his werewolf side? Just why? Wasn't all he had enough for the Original? He was already practically indestructible. Was she a threat to him? But she never would have sought him out for a fight if Klaus just let her and her friends alone.

"Did you like my gift, love?" from her left side a baritone voice with an antiquated accent that although Bella had never heard in person could only imagine belonging to one Original, or at least to one of the males in his family, snapping her out of her wallowing thoughts.

Agent Swan's shoulders tensed at his arrival. Why did she manage to attract all the egotistical male vampires in a five-mile radius?

"Can't say that I did," she quipped sarcastically, purposefully looking to her right, opposite from Klaus.

"No? Such a shame," the werewolf hybrid sounded truly regretful that his little ploy didn't appeal to the agent. "In any case, you have the perfect suspect. You will find all the evidence that you might need to corroborate his confession in his apartment."

"Did he really do it?" Bella found herself asking, still intently looking the other way, not wanting to risk getting compelled.

"Of course not, love," Mikaelson laughed out darkly as if the mere idea was preposterous. "But he had been fantasizing about doing similar things for a long while. I'd have given him maybe a year or two until something that truly made him snap happened. It was an utter delight getting into his mind to explore his take on how to kill someone mimicking a vampire attack."

The brunette could just imagine that in a twisted sense Klaus thought that he had really done her a favor by bringing Joey's most sinister nature to the forefront and getting him off the streets before he genuinely did go on a rampage. What was one dead petty officer to him, if it meant that Ms. Swan was brought back to Mystic Falls? And he even had the perfect cover to keep federal agencies unsuspecting of the actual monster lurking in the shadows. Rule 10 was a real bitch, even Gibbs admitted to having a hard time following it. Although it was difficult not getting personally involved in a case that was a rouse explicitly aimed at you.

A quite familiar resolution began taking hold in Bella's mind. Once upon a time she was prepared to throw her life away for someone she loved. Enough so that she put herself at the mercy of a tracker because she believed that would keep Edward, Alice and everyone else safe.

"You have me where you want me, Klaus. Let's get this over with and kill me already. Without getting everyone else involved," the vampire trained her gaze finally at the Original, determination shining in her eyes.

Yes, if this choice ensured that everyone else in Mystic Falls and at NCIS was kept away from danger, she was willing to make the sacrifice. Even if it meant that she would never see Charlie or Renée again. Not that Bella saw them much anyway. Graduation more than five years ago was the last time either of them laid eyes on her before she took off to travel. Phone conversations weren't exactly her forte either, especially since becoming a police officer then an agent, she maybe got around to calling her parents every other month.

The amused laugh of the Original brought her out of her mental farewells to her family members.

"Kill you? No, love, I have entirely different plans for you," he revealed with a wry, knowing smile, his dark blue eyes glinting with mirth. A moment later he offered a hand to her. "Come, sitting on the dirty pavement is quite unbecoming of a queen."

Utterly confused, she took his hand in a daze, not really thinking of her actions. He was a good seven inches taller than her, so the agent still had to crane her neck upwards to maintain eye contact as she tried searching for some kind of explanation in his features.  _Queen? Surely he wasn't implying that he wanted to…_  Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough to hide the hint of realization from her chocolate brown eyes.

"Ah, beautiful  _Isabella_ , seems I have said too much. Don't fret, I've always enjoyed women who were more than mere eye candy," Nik ran his thumb down her cheek in a sort of tender way, but it made Bella shudder nonetheless, unable to move as if transfixed into place. Less than a second later, the dark blond Original's pupils dilated as he prepared to compel her. "You'll forget that we have met and what I had told you, but you are to remain in Mystic Falls until I'm ready for you. Now go off and bring your killer to justice."

The irony of that last part wasn't lost on Bella. On her right, from around the corner, footsteps could be heard, and Klaus was gone in less than a blink of an eye. The brunette couldn't help but gaze in the direction he had disappeared to. Three seconds later the owner of the footsteps rounded the corner to the alley she was standing in.

"Bella…" Tony started tentatively. "Good now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," the brunette turned back towards him with a small smile as if everything was right in the world. "Did the warrant come through?"

DiNozzo had long ago resigned himself to never finding out how Swan had the uncanny ability to anticipate most of the things he was about to say to her if it was related to a case.

"Yeah, Gibbs wants us to search the apartment while he cross-examines Bates one more time. Rule 3."  _Double checking everything_ , the male agent affirmed with a nod. Meanwhile, Bella's mind was elsewhere, and noticing her spacing out he reiterated his earlier question. "Are you sure everything is alright? You did kind of just storm out of an interrogation."

The vampire considered the benefits and drawbacks of compelling the guy into leaving her the fuck alone with the personal inquiries but just resigned herself to an unamused glare.

"Yes, everything is dandy, he just gave me the creeps," she asserted while crossing her arms in front of her chest as she stepped around her partner to make her way towards the car.

There was only one thought on her mind the whole way. She still remembered everything.

* * *

Truthfully neither of the agents were surprised by what they had found in the Charlottesville apartment. A portable box dialysis machine. Check. License for the use of said machine for out-patient care and house calls. Check. Needles and tubes in the trash with blood on them. Check. Several pairs in fact, but Abby would run the sample from each of them to try and match them with the victim anyway. Also, little metal cones that likely matched the entry wounds. Check. A bottle of Diethyl ether on the suspect's desk. Check.

So conveniently and perfectly set up, Bella didn't think anyone would question the case in court, even if the evidence was way too straightforward, especially if Ducky got back to them that the murder weapon and manner in which it was used corroborates the autopsy findings. She surely would have been fooled if not knowing otherwise. There was still no explanation for the syringe, but it could have been lying under that bush for months, even years given the town's history.

The petty officer's strange behavior though… Why was he seeking Bonnie out and what did he know about the Cooke family, more importantly, how? Surely Klaus didn't feed the info to him, right? Why would he have? "Hey, I'm going to eat you in a few hours but before I do let me tell you something about the random dude who is going to be convicted of your murder…"

More likely that this was part of the tale planted in Joey's mind to make the crime and motive extra believable. Higher priority question: if Kris really didn't die in a car crash, how did Klaus know about that? Smelled eerily like a vampire attack cover-up, and all signs pointed to a certain egotistical maniac. Not that this was relevant to the official standing of the case, it just piqued her own curiosity. The very same one that would likely get her killed in the near future if she kept this up.

Soon all the pictures were snapped, and everything was carefully tagged, bagged, swabbed, dusted, prints were taken on their crime scene. There weren't any blood splatters, cleaned up or otherwise, but given that a) Klaus drank it all, b) according to the suspect all five liters were in blood bags at the hospital that wasn't a surprise.

"The hospital is just down the street. How about we try and retrieve the blood, or what we can of it?" DiNozzo suggested when they were finally finished and outside, sealing the entrance to the apartment with yellow crime scene tape ribbons.

 _Yeah, good luck with that…_  Bella internally scoffed.

"Sure, we can also question the doctors and other nurses. If nothing else they are character witnesses," she replied aloud, ignoring her own better judgment. There were bound to be some discrepancies to the story here.

The entrance of the medical center turned out to be so close that they decided to leave the car where they had previously parked it. The mild mid-September sun was really nice, and the vampire couldn't help but relish in the fact that she was still able to enjoy it.

"By the way, Bella, isn't it your birthday tomorrow?" Tony asked all of a sudden as they walked.  _Right, it was the 12th._  "Twenty-four it will be?"

"Yes," the brunette replied without giving it too much thought. Birthdays had meant nothing to her for the past almost five years. "Here we are," she said, entering through the sliding doors before her partner could comment on her lack of enthusiasm for the event. The permeating odor of disinfectants and sickness hit her hyper-perceptive nose, which sensation she promptly tried to ignore.

The female agent purposefully walked up to the reception desk, barely paying mind to the hurried footsteps trying to catch up with her.

"Hi, we'd like to speak with the director of the hospital," she told the blonde nurse running the station.

"Do you have an appointment, miss?" Jenny, her name tag revealed, inquired not unkindly.

"We don't, but I'm sure that won't be a problem," Bella sweetly but firmly told her, getting her ID badge case out from her jacket, and showing each side to the young woman, Tony doing the same. "I'm Special Agent Swan, and this is my partner Special Agent DiNozzo from NCIS. We'd like to ask some questions related to a murder investigation."

"Just a moment," the blonde, suddenly apprehensive, moved over to the phone to dial the director's assistant.

"Smooth," the male agent whispered to the brunette, winking playfully.

"Shut up," Swan rolled her eyes. He wasn't the only one who could be charming if he wanted to be.

"His secretary will be down shortly to escort you to Dr. Monroe's office if you could wait over there please," Jenny got back to them with the instruction she had gotten from her boss.

"Thanks," Bella said, pulling her partner away before he got any ideas about asking the pretty nurse for her number.

True to their word another gorgeous blonde – what was this, the Stepford wives? – in a sharp navy blue costume and impossibly high heels strutted towards them. The vampire groaned inwardly at the blatant way Tony was ogling at her.

"Hello, I'm Cynthia, you are the NCIS agents, right?" When they nodded, she motioned for them to follow her. "This way, please."

"Lead the way," DiNozzo flashed a charming smile, thoroughly checking her ass out too once she turned around, walking a few steps in front of them. Bella rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs, probably a bit too strongly.

 _"Ouch!"_  he mouthed at her with a hurt expression asking "what was that for?" while rubbing his bruised muscles. If the vampire's unimpressed frown weren't able to convey the message, then nothing would have.

An elevator ride, five floors, and two hallways later they arrived in front of the hospital chief's office.

"Go right in," Cynthia urged them as she took her place behind her own desk.

As they entered the blue and brown themed office, a plump graying man in his fifties shuffled out from behind his desk coming to greet them.

"Dr. Steve Monroe, what can I do for you agents? Cynthia said there was a murder?" he pleasantly introduced himself offering his hand for a shake, first to Tony. So typical. Why couldn't anyone assume that she was the leading agent?

"Special Agents Anthony DiNozzo and Isabella Swan," the older agent revealed their names then waited until Bella shook hands with the doctor too before continuing. "We'd like to ask you about one of your employees. Joey Bates."

"Is he alright? He didn't show up for work this morning," Monroe motioned for them to take a seat in the chairs in front of his desk.

"He is currently being detained at the Mystic Falls sheriff's station, about to be charged with the murder of Petty Officer James Sheridan. What can you tell us about him? Did he behave oddly in the past days, weeks?" Tony revealed, getting right to the questions too.

"He has worked here ever since getting his nurse's license, for ten or eleven years I think. His older sister died shortly after, which had really shaken him up at the time. Was never too sociable, quiet kid that one, but he got on well enough with his colleagues and we never had a problem with him, never missed a day of work. Beside his shifts, he did regular house calls too," the doctor dumbfoundedly told them, still not over the shock of the news.

"Is there anyone we could speak with who might have known him better?" Bella interjected. Surely he had at least one confidant.

"Like I said he wasn't too chatty, just came in every morning, did his job, and then left at the end with the list of places he had to visit after his shift. I'm afraid no one would be able to tell you much more," he shook his head.

"Alright. We would also like to inspect your blood bank. Mr. Bates, when confessing to the murder, mentioned that he deposited the blood he drained from the victim there," DiNozzo took the reins back on the interview.

"I assure you that our blood bank is strictly regulated. No one would be able to access it without the proper authorizations, which Mr. Bates did not have," the director advised after a momentary outrage at the mere insinuation that the blood they used at the hospital might be compromised.

"Is there any way to trace the origins of all bags that come in?" the senior agent inquired further, unfazed by the change in attitude on the other side of the table.

"Yes, all bags are identifiable by a bar code in the donor's database. But we don't have access to the names or any personal information of the donors on our side, only the detailed blood type and the clearing from Red Cross that it is safe to use," Dr. Monroe revealed, apparently, a bit taken aback that the agents didn't know this information yet.

"We'd like to see an itemized inventory of the O negative blood typed bags for the last two days, and we will need testing samples from any remaining bags in your blood bank for analysis to ensure it isn't from our victim. We also need to ask you to put the use of those bags on hold until our forensic team tests the DNA," Tony instructed the chief of the hospital with such ease and authority Bella had to wonder why he wasn't leading his own team by now.

"Do you realize what you are asking? Even if we rescheduled all surgeries that needed O negative blood, we are also a trauma center, many times there is no time for blood typing, and we have to default to using O negative," the man's gasped affronted by what NCIS was asking of their hospital.

"I assure you, our lab works quickly, we can get the results back to you by the afternoon. Until then reroute all trauma cases to Staunton," the male agent insisted without thinking.

"I'll have to ask you to come back with a warrant," he said morosely, gone the helpful demeanor.

DiNozzo reached into his inner suit pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, catching even Bella by surprise. She thought that was only for the apartment. Thinking about it, she should have anticipated this turn of events. They already had probable cause to search the hospital too, since Joey admitted to stashing Sheridan's blood here, so they weren't expecting to find it at his apartment.

"Here it is," Tony handed it over with a smirk, pleased that they were prepared. Every hour that passed made it less likely that those blood bags would still be sitting in the bank and not used in a transfusion.

Dr. Monroe quickly scanned through the document before returning it, gruffly accessing some kind of system on his computer to retrieve the necessary data, then picked his phone up.

"Cynthia, bring in the documents I just sent to the printer," he curtly instructed his assistant. Moments later she entered, complying with the request. "That'll be all," he said to her once the papers were in his hand.

As she left, the director handed the lists to Tony, who promptly gave the documents to Bella so that she could study them. She was much better at spotting crucial details and information among loads of similar entries.

"Dr. Monroe…" she addressed the chief a minute later, continuing when she got his attention. "I believe we will need the entire inventory, and samples from all the blood bags from all types since there is no indication in these that there were any extras. If Joey stashed them in your reserves under false tags, it might not be devastating as our victim's blood type was O negative, given it's a universal donor type, but in some cases, there are many other factors taken into account than just the red blood cell types and Rh factor, right?"

Her partner regarded her in awe for her knowledgeability and quick thinking, while the good doctor grimaced at the implications. Before you think that becoming a vampire made her so well-versed in the biology of blood, you are wrong. Bella was always a good student, and for once her high school studies were good for something.

"Just a moment," he huffed, getting back onto his computer.

"Thank you for your cooperation. Could you show us to your blood bank so that we can collect our samples?" DiNozzo cordially requested as he stood up once he thought the director was finished.

The older man led the two agents out of his office, his assistant jumping up from her place when she saw them, trying to be helpful. Steve waved her off, signaling that he was handling this matter personally as he grabbed the newly printed documents from the printer tray and handed them to the female agent this time.

They walked towards the elevator in silence, Agent Swan reading the complete inventory. As she had previously thought there was still no sign of approximately ten extra bags anywhere on it.

They got off on the first floor where the blood bank was located. With a card swipe, they were let in through the sliding doors. More of the same white, blue and grey greeted them there too, like with the rest of the hospital.

"Larry, we'll need samples from all blood bags currently in stock, carefully tagged, the agents here will supervise the process," the head of the hospital ordered the Red Cross blood bank coordinator stationed at their hospital.

"Another thing, Dr. Monroe," Bella peered up from the papers that she was still pretending to read, given that humanly it wouldn't have been possible to get through the data in their short walk. "We need a list of all the people and their card numbers that have authorization to these doors, and the records of access between 1 AM yesterday and 6 AM today."

That was the time Joey gave himself up at the station so whatever tampering he might have done should fit into that time frame, given that the time of death was between 1 AM and 2 AM the previous day.

"I'll have Cynthia get them to you shortly. I assume I can leave you to it?" Steve nodded, seemingly resigned with the whole procedure.

"We can find our way back to your office if we have any more questions," Tony quipped to him. Once the doctor left, he turned to his partner. "Good thinking."

"Don't thank me yet. I'm not entirely sure Joey did really drop those off here. I can't find any irregularities in these inventories yet," Agent Swan shook her head, knowing full well that there were none.

"Maybe we should request them digitally and have Tim cross reference it on the computer?" DiNozzo suggested. McGee was a real wiz with computers.

"I don't think that would yield any different results," the brunette looked at him pointedly.

"Excuse me, are you talking about Joey Bates?" Larry, or what his name was, asked, seemingly intrigued by the agents' banter.

"Yes, do you know him?" the male agent turned to him.

"Not really, but yesterday afternoon he came in here asking if the blood bags he dropped off had been used yet. The whole thing was weird. He couldn't have dropped off anything, he is not an official blood supplier. He was also acting a bit strange, like he wasn't exactly himself, sort of in a daze," the coordinator told them.  _Signs of compulsion alright_ , Bella assessed. Klaus must have found him shortly before that to pin the murder on him.

"So you aren't aware of any tampering with the blood bags on stock?" Tony inquired.

"I was on duty yesterday too from 8 AM to 5 PM. Surely not during that time," he sighed, getting the thirty or so vials ready to take samples from all the bags they currently had.

It was a rather straightforward process. All standard blood bags had a little valve like access point and extra stickers with barcodes attached to them that he tagged all the vials with after filling them with a small amount of blood. Bella counted 34 in the glass-doored coolers used for storing them. Precisely the same amount that was supposed to be there according to the inventory. The numbers also matched per blood types too.

Interestingly enough she found that she had absolutely no problem staying in the room while this took place. She could smell a faint trace of blood in the air, but her true face never even threatened to show, no signs of blood frenzy. But at least she wasn't squeamish either anymore either like she used to be. The whole thing was just odd. Mind you, these little ports, as well as the rubber tops of the test tubes, provided perfect sealing.

"Thanks for the help," Bella absentmindedly said as she packed the samples into their evidence bags as put them away.

"No problem," Larry smiled at her warmly. A little too intensely.  _Great, another admirer._  At least he belonged to the human species. Not like that mattered much.

As they were exiting the room, the Stepford blonde assistant was just coming to deliver the rest of the records they requested.

"Is there anything else you need?" she inquired professionally.

"No, that is all for now," Tony smiled at her, fishing out a business card. "You can reach me on this if anything else comes to mind."

Bella wanted to gag. Nowhere in there did he mention that it was only for topics related to the case.

"I'll get it to Dr. Monroe," Cynthia nodded, completely missing the hint at flirting, causing DiNozzo to sag a bit in his enthusiasm and the female agent had to choke back a chuckle, disguising it as a cough.

"Do you think he sold the blood on the black market?" the light-brown haired agent inquired between dirty glances that he had been throwing at his partner the whole way to their car.

"Most likely. If so, there is no way we would ever find them," Bella shrugged. Please have everyone go with this assumption. She wasn't in the mood for trying to cover for Klaus anymore.

"Wanna drive?" he asked suddenly, then threw the ignition keys to her, which she caught without a problem.

Bella raised a brow at him. DiNozzo relegating the car to her when he was perfectly capable of driving? Unheard of.

"Your funeral," Agent Swan laughed out finally, getting in the driver's seat after placing their bags safely in the trunk of the car.

Once Tony got in too, she quickly put the car into drive and shot out from their parking space with ease, then threaded the streets of Charlottesville towards the high-way at daredevilish speeds. With her reflexes, they were safer than anyone else out there, but Tony, knowing nothing about that, shot frightened glances at her, regretting his choice after all.

Yes, since becoming a vampire, Bella had indeed discovered what Edward had meant about fast cars all those years ago.


	6. Case closed... or is it?

"You should call Gibbs to have him ask about the blood bags again," Bella forced herself to remind her partner as she weaved the heavy traffic on Interstate 95 towards Washington, D.C. at the last leg of their journey.

"You should never ever bother Gibbs during an interrogation," Tony reminded her of the code that their boss endeavored all his team members to abide by with a slight scowl. He knew that they ought to ring him, but didn't want to be the one to actually do it.

"I know, rule 22. Knowing Gibbs, he had already finished by now. In case he is still in, he can just ignore the call and get back to you later if it's interrupting anything, but he will want to question Bates about this again," Agent Swan insisted, not wanting to get on the bad side of the usually crabby senior agent, even if interrupting him might just produce the very same outcome.

DiNozzo made a face, as if someone was pulling his teeth, but dialed anyway. The brunette driving just tuned the conversation out and hit the gas pedal even more, wanting to make the round trip as fast as possible. She had a date with the gang at 8 PM after all.

"Whoa, slow down… are you trying to kill us?" the usually easygoing agent exclaimed as he grabbed the armrest and the handhold above the door for his dear life when he ended the call and noticed the speed they were going at.

"I'll have you know that there is practically no one you would be safer with as a driver," Bella huffed indignantly, but she could relate to his fears. Or at least her human self could have.

"At least switch on the sirens, so we don't get a ticket," Tony pleaded although that ticket would have been taken care of in a matter of minutes once he called his buds up at the station. If in fact, he wanted to let his reckless partner off the hook.

"Your wish is my command," the vampire chuckled, pushing the appropriate button on the dashboard to have the Dodge Charger light up with pretty blue at the top of the windshield, at the same time the siren started whooping, instantly parting the traffic in front of them.

* * *

They made it to the Navy Yard in record time, barely over an hour instead of the two it should have taken. DiNozzo scrambled out of the car as soon as she parked it and breathed heavily as he clutched his knees. Bella ignored him but couldn't help the pleased smirk that crept up on her face.

She threw the strap of the cooler with their samples in it over her shoulder and grabbed the box containing the dialysis machine and other larger pieces of evidence from the trunk. The female agent made her way to the elevator to drop the contents of it off at the lab, but not before going to the drinks machine for the favorite caffeine fix of her favorite girl. She briefly wondered if this should have been impossibly heavy for her to carry based on her slight frame, but she had long proven to her colleagues that she wasn't as fragile as she seemed at first glance.

Even before the sliding doors could open, the blaring beat of death metal and the stench of garlic greeted the vampire. With an amused smile, she decided to play a little prank on their forensic scientist. Stealthily she made her way behind her.

"Let me have a taste of you, Abigail," Bella whispered into her ear, just loud enough to be heard over the music, making the Goth girl jump in fright. An impressive feat, given that the vampire was a whole six inches smaller than her friend even without the platform boots Abby usually wore. But her clumsiness had been a thing of the past for the last five years, so balancing on her tippy toes was not a problem anymore.

"Jeez, Bells, don't do that to me!" Abby clutched at her heart dramatically, but recovering moments later to envelop the female agent in a bear hug, squishing the garlic string around her neck against Bella. "Especially not when we have this freaky vampire case."

"I thought you liked this kind of stuff. You even sleep in a coffin," the brunette laughed out once she was released from the other girl's hold. Good thing garlic was only a carefully planted myth to draw the attention away from vervain that was the real threat to her kind. Quickly glancing around, she noticed another few garlands of it hanging around the lab.

"Yeah, in fiction! I don't want real vampires lurking around, sucking the blood and life out of everyone," Miss Sciuto scoffed with wild hand gestures to make her point.  _That stung a bit_ , Bella thought, but she quickly hid the hurt look from her face. It wasn't the tattooed girl's fault that she didn't know that the person she practically regarded as her best friend was one.

"Well then, you are in luck. I just brought you all the physical evidence that should prove that this wasn't done by a vampire, only a psychopathic nurse having access to a portable dialysis machine," Agent Swan offered with a tight smile, placing the box and cooler on the metal desk to unpack all the bags that contained their findings.

"You got here really fast. Tony only called an hour ago that you were on the way," Abby mused as she looked at her wristwatch, pulling back her white lab coat that concealed most of her black lace get-up that she adorned today.

"I was doing 150 most of the road. The hospital isn't allowed to use the remaining blood in their reserves until we confirm that none of it is the victim's," she revealed the reason for the urgency.

"How did Tony handle you at the wheel?" the raven-haired scientist smirked at her friend, having had experienced said crazy driving skills before.

"He almost shit his pants," Bella divulged with a bit of glee. It was rare that she could one-up the senior field agent. "Anyway, these 34 are the hospital samples, and these over here are the ones we collected at the suspect's apartment," she explained pointing to the groups of objects, getting back to business.

"Alright, I'll start with those and hopefully will be able to give them the all clear as soon as possible," Abby nodded seriously, grasping the severity of the hospital situation, meanwhile eyeing the extra-large Caf-Pow in Swan's other hand.

"Almost forgot, this is for you too," the brunette smirked as she handed the Goth's favorite drink to her, she instantly sucking on the straw to get her fix. Swan hadn't forgotten at all, but it was wise to play down just how good her memory was sometimes.

"I haven't earned it yet," the raven-haired girl hesitantly admitted.

"But you will in a sec. Anything on the tox reports and samples from the body?" the agent inquired with a fond smile at the predictable reaction.

"Swabs from the nose area and lungs did show signs of diethyl ether having been inhaled," the scientist started to rattle off her findings after turning to her computer and placing the Caf-Pow beside the keyboard, with a few commands pulling up the reports on the wide-screen. "Nothing surprising on the tox report, Sheridan had drunk about a glass of wine right before his death, alcohol levels are consistent with that. Even though Ducky couldn't find any syringe marks, I had enlisted Major Mass Spec to check specifically for the verbena in the tissue samples, but he wasn't injected with it for sure. Also ran the stomach contents in case it was squirted into his mouth and didn't have the chance to be absorbed yet, but nothing."

"It could be unrelated," Bella tried suggesting, in case this detail could somehow be forgotten. She wished that she had never discovered that damned syringe under the bush or had the forethought not to announce it to the rest of the team before touching it.

"There is no such thing as a coincident!" the Goth girl reminded her of Gibbs's 39th rule.

"When I lived in Mystic Falls many girls used verbena to ease their menstruation pain as an herbal remedy," she offered as a lame excuse, careful to use the same term for vervain as the forensic scientist did.

"Yeah, but you would drink it in a tea, not inject yourself with it!" Abby pointedly told her.

"I don't know, I never used it," the agent shrugged nonchalantly. "You'll figure it out," she tried reassuring the scientist but actually hoping that wouldn't be the case.

"Damn right I will!" she pumped her fist in Rosie the Riveter style to show off her enthusiasm for the challenge.

With everything taken care of Bella headed for the sliding doors, eager to get back into the car and make the drive back to Mystic Falls before Klaus noticed that she was gone and her secret advantage that she couldn't be compelled even by an Original was revealed.

"Bella!" the forensic scientist called after her suddenly, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn around. "Don't make any plans for tomorrow!" she winked at her, hinting at some sort of plans she had made for themselves for her friend's birthday.

"I'm not sure we will back from Mystic Falls by tomorrow evening yet," Bella apologetically told her as the sliding doors behind her opened, someone stepping in.

Another lame excuse. This case was as good as closed.

"We are not going back, Gibbs is on the way with Bates," Tony informed her, sounding quite relieved by that fact.

"He is satisfied that he is our guy?" Agent Swan asked him with a small frown. She was perplexed that the compulsion and what it was making Joey say had their boss fooled too.

"Yeah, apparently he deliberately lied about the blood bags ending up at the hospital because it would have made him more notorious if we couldn't verify that, than the truth of selling them on the black market. He isn't willing to reveal who he sold it to though," DiNozzo shook his head disbelievingly.

Even now Niklaus Mikaelson could throw a curve at them. All these points made it even more believable that Joey really did do it.

"Not even Gibbs could break him?" Abby joined him in the incredulity. Rightfully so, their team leader was famous for cracking even the toughest cookies, so this was absolutely unheard of.

"Nope," the male agent affirmed, stressing the  _p_  at the end.

"Wow," the Goth gaped, astounded.

"All we need is you and Ducky confirming the murder weapon, and he is put away for life," he assessed the current standing of the investigation.

"I'm on it," the forensic scientist huffed at the implication that she wasn't working fast enough, already fiddling with the hospital samples to feed the DNA data into her computer for comparison.

"What's that smell by the way?" Tony crinkled his nose in disgust.

"Garlic," both girls said in unison, causing DiNozzo to frown further, catching onto the reason behind the preemptive measures. His mother went through a phase involving Louis XV that inspired the decor of his room and also gave him nightmares about vampires.

"I'll be upstairs," Bella told them, effectively detaching herself from the conversation.

Once in the elevator, out of earshot and sight, the female agent got her personal phone out and rang Jeremy – thanking her quick thinking that she actually saved his contact info the last time they met. She informed him that she might be late getting back and that they should find another, hopefully secure, meeting place as the Salvatore house was possibly compromised, promising to reveal everything else once she got there.

"What's up with her?" Abby shot a worried glance towards the direction her friend had disappeared to.

"Dunno, ever since we heard the case was in Mystic Falls she had been weirding out on us. Did she tell she lived there five years ago?" he inquired curiously. The forensic scientist had been the closest with their youngest team member, she would have told her if anyone.

"No… not a word…" she shook her head, deep in thought about that revelation as she got back to her samples.

* * *

"Hey, you guys are back," McGee looked up when he heard the elevator chime and saw Bella getting out.

Seemed like Tony needed quite some time to recover from the adventurous car drive and hadn't come up to the bullpen yet. Well, he also got a call from Gibbs so he might have just decided to take it in the garage in case they were to get on the move again quickly.

"Gibbs will be here too in an hour or two as well," the female agent informed him as she sat down at her desk, firing up the computer.

Swan checked on the federal records for their previous cases and found that there was a report from CGIS notifying them that they had freed the missing kids and that the case was closed. That at least made her smile a bit. Some things she was able to do right after all.

She then accessed the national register for births and deaths to check on Elena. Just as the agent had assumed she was listed as dead. Bella was so immersed in it that she didn't even notice Tony coming up behind her on the right and peering over the space divider wall, having a perfect view of her screen.

"Is she your friend who passed away?" he solemnly asked, then noticed the last name and made an educated guess. "Jeremy's sister, right?"

Bella snapped her head to him, half furious for the snooping, half grateful for getting caught looking at the info because it would make her reasons all the more believable when she requested her leave from NCIS.

"She was adopted by the Gilberts, but yes," Bella revealed somberly with a nod, turning her head back to the screen. The picture of her in the database was from around the time she had known her, probably from her driver's license that she had gotten when she was seventeen.

"Were you close?" Tony probed as he rested his elbows on the low wall, carefully watching the profile of her face.

"I know it might seem weird given that I only lived there for barely over a month. But she was like the sister I never had to me," she admitted with a fond smile, catching DiNozzo by surprise that she so willingly divulged that personal information without much prying.

"Why didn't you guys keep in touch?" the nosy agent went further, getting gutsy by the previous easy success. Swan sighed, her face set in a scowl over whatever she remembered.

"It's complicated but to make it short, in our group of friends I sort of dated a guy who was secretly in love with her but couldn't have her because she was his brother's girlfriend at the time, and he was just fooling around with me to take his mind off of her. When I found out I decided to leave. The whole thing just became really awkward," the female agent conceded the selective truth with a sigh.

Yes, always a good idea to pin everything on an impossible love triangle – or quadrangle in this case. Even if Damon and she were never really that involved. I mean, a lot of friendly talk and one kiss could hardly be considered dating, at least seriously enough to warrant such a reaction. Also, that wasn't the betrayal that made her flee, but that's an entirely other can of worms that – if she could help it – would never come to the attention of anyone at NCIS.

"Ouch," Tony sympathetically offered with a grimace. If someone he thoroughly could relate to embarrassing moments revolving around relationships. Just take Jeanne Benoit for one example, but Ziva David and their parting before she left NCIS could be another. He hadn't heard from or sought out either of them since, but for entirely different reasons.

Their conversation was cut short by the elevator arriving on their floor again, Gibbs stepping out, escorting a cuffed Mr. Bates to the interrogation room here. The team knew full well that he would be back in a second for an update, so all three of them gathered around the widescreen, McGee pulling up the information they had collected so far on it and handing the remote to DiNozzo.

"Talk to me," the team leader was back shortly as expected.

Tony started off with all the information they knew about their victim, background, the basic timeline for his death then switched to the suspect and everything they discovered in Charlottesville, plus from the interrogations. Tim continued with their findings from the personal laptops and the interviews with the fellow officers. There was still no prior connection between the petty officer and Joey Bates, nor any evidence for the homosexuality, but from what they had so far it seemed like a crime of passion and opportunity. Bella then went on to reveal what she learned from Abby, informing Gibbs that all they were waiting for was the processing of the final physical evidence that they had brought in and Ducky's confirmation that the dialysis machine was indeed the murder weapon.

Without a word, Gibbs stalked off from the bullpen, probably to autopsy and the lab.

"I still don't get why Joey gave himself up," McGee commented to break the silence.

"He is crazy, don't try and understand what goes on in his mind, McGeek," DiNozzo huffed as he plopped down in his desk chair, resting his intertwined hands on the back of his head. "Bella, you were the one who he said the most to on his reasoning. What do you think he meant with that Yancey quote?"

"Maybe he believes in some divine guidance, and giving himself up was the only option for him. Or had a momentary lucidity in his crazy as you put it and his conscience dictated that he should because he was aware that he would do it again otherwise," she offered her take on the matter, standing there bereft in the middle of the bullpen with crossed arms. Klaus had really thought this out, feeding that line to him, although she didn't know that it was a quote from something before this. But it was meant for her, she was sure of it.

"Let's just hope he doesn't come to his senses again and have his lawyer – that he will ultimately get assigned for the trial – to go with the temporary insanity defense," the senior field agent remarked darkly, straightening up to start working on his report on the case.

Finding that a good idea, Bella walked back to her desk to do the same so that she could get out of this place faster.

About an hour later Gibbs returned with fresh coffee in hand.

"Go home everyone, the case is closed," he told them as he sat down at his desk. Abby must have processed everything already, and Ducky gave his final autopsy report on the cause of death and.

Swan glanced at the clock, seeing that it was past 7 PM already. All in all a day and a half probably counted as record time for solving a murder.

"Gibbs…" the brunette tentatively started, turning with her chair towards her left to face him. She was aware that the other boys' eyes were all on her, curious about what she wanted to request.

"I know. It's fine," the team leader told her flatly without looking up from his computer.

"You know what exactly?" Bella unsurely checked.

"That you need time off. How long?" Jethro said, glancing her way.

"I'm not sure, a week at least. I'll keep you posted," the female agent revealed, catching from the corner of her eye DiNozzo's surprised expression. He must have thought that she would be back in a day or two after visiting Elena's grave, maybe spending some time with Jeremy and her other friends to mourn the loss.

"Just remember, rule 28."  _When you need help, ask._  He conveyed his support with that simple statement.

"Right, I'll keep it in mind," Swan frowned a bit as she turned back to the computer, filing her now finished report in the appropriate systems before turning it off.

What else had Gibbs deduced to refer to that rule? Truthfully she was doing just that, only she was turning to people who actually had a chance at doing something. No federal agency or rouge sniper could help her now. Yes, she knew about some of the questionable things their gruff team leader had done to get back at people who had hurt his family or those close to him. In a way, it was sweet that he considered her to be in that inner circle.

"See you later," she offered to them as she picked her bag up and made her way to the elevator, not looking back in case her face revealed that there wouldn't be a later. She was never coming back. She would just keep extending her leave until she could then send in her formal resignation once it was far removed enough in time from this case.

Without her supersensitive hearing, she wouldn't have heard Tony getting up to follow her, or the hushed conversation at ensued.

"Rule number 12, DiNozzo," Jethro warned the agent who sprung to his feet from his desk.

"I don't understand, Boss. The job is done, we walked away."

Bella could just imagine the senior field agent's confused face that went with that statement. She had to bite back a chuckle.

Gibbs looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Damn, that's number 11, I always get these two mixed up. I would never date a coworker, Boss. Trust me," Tony sincerely told Gibbs once he got the message sorted out.

But the team leader just kept looking at him unimpressed.

"Technically Ziva wasn't working here anymore at the time when we…" he embarrassedly revealed but cut himself off before going TMI.

Bella's eyes went wide. She had heard the name of the well-known Mossad agent before who worked here for many years as her predecessor, but never in a million years would she have thought that the assassin and Tony got intimate before she had returned to Israel. She really wished for the elevator to hurry up already and kept nudging the button impatiently.

"Go," Gibbs nodded his head to the right, giving his blessing to DiNozzo, right when the elevator finally arrived.

Agent Swan got in, quickly pushing the button for the ground floor and the one to close the doors faster, but Tony sprinted to it hastily enough to squeeze in before the doors shut, closing them off from the orange colored space outside.

DiNozzo hit the emergency stop button that Gibbs always liked to utilize when he wanted to have a private conversation with someone, halting the elevator between floors, the lights dimming to an eerie bluish-grey hue.

"What are you doing?" the brunette asked indignantly, looking up at her much taller partner.

"What's going on, Bella?" he asked bluntly, searching her face for answers.

"It's none of your business," Bella huffed. Maybe it was a mistake to start opening up to the man right before she was going to ultimately cut herself off from them.

"You are my teammate. Here at NCIS, we have each other's backs, so it is well damn my business if you are in trouble," Tony tried to plead with her better judgment and have her ask him for help, even if Gibbs wasn't willing to take such a direct approach with the girl.

"I'm not in trouble, I have personal stuff to take care of," she denied the allegations even though she didn't know yet the extent or details of what Klaus intended to do with her. She had her hunches though.

"Involving Mystic Falls," the light-brown haired man guessed, given that all this nonsense started with that town.

"Involving my _friends_ , who need me and whom I have unjustly left behind before. Now, bugger off," the female agent angrily turned the elevator back on, uncomfortable silence enveloping them during the rest of the descent.

Bella could see the hurt look in her partner's eyes at her harsh words, but it was better this way. She couldn't afford to let them get involved. She cared too much about her friends here to allow that. The three years at NCIS had undoubtedly been the longest time she had spent in one place. In like ever. They had always moved around as a child because of Renée's flighty personality, uprooting her basically each or every other year.

Then when her mom finally settled down with Phil, because his job involved constant traveling as a minor league baseball player, she moved to Forks to allow her mom to go with him on his trips instead of staying at home with her in Georgia and to try and find a stable point in her life. Only to flee two and half years later from there too because of the stupid cold ones who shook her existence up. Ever since then her life involved traveling, Mystic Falls came and went, turning out to be only a pit stop at the time despite her intentions. The police academy and her job at MPD were only a few months to a year too.

So all in all the Major Case Response Team at NCIS had become the longest standing connection in her life besides her parents. And for this very same reason, because they had become like a family to her despite it appearing otherwise, a clean break was the best.  _It's for your own good, Tony._

When the elevator doors finally opened, she swiftly walked toward the exit and the parking lot where her personal car waited for her, never glancing back, leaving an utterly baffled Special Agent DiNozzo behind.


	7. Coming out Part I

Bella only allowed herself to take one final look at the building when she had already made it through the open air parking lot to her silver 2011 Chevy Silverado 1500 Pickup truck. The only type of vehicle she ever bought for herself since her dad made her fall in love with them when she was seventeen, though admittedly it was helpful that the newer models could go significantly over 50 mph, unlike her 1963 Chevy Pickup back in Forks.

She presumed this was the last time she was going to lay eyes on the Navy Yard, feeling a little guilty for inevitably standing Abby up the next day. On that note she turned her phone – the one her colleagues could reach her on – off.

The agent hitched herself up into the elevated seats of her vehicle and took a moment to take a deep breath before actually starting up the engine, then backed out of her spot and headed towards the gate. There she flashed her ID and waved the familiar guard goodnight. People usually took no notice of personnel like the cleaning staff, doormen or chauffeurs. They were taken for granted. But on this evening Bella couldn't help but pay attention, being the last she saw him too. George, was his name, waved back, startled for a moment by the friendly gesture.

As she turned onto the street, Swan pondered briefly if she should stop by Capitol Park Plaza where her apartment was to get some clean clothes and stuff. If you were wondering how a federal agent could afford such a nice place with $1300 for rent, let's just say she had a special arrangement… In any case, she needed to drop by despite being short on time. Who knew how long she would be away and honestly she wasn't keen on wearing the same outfit without end.

The moment she stepped out from the elevator on her floor she had the feeling that something was amiss. She got her gun out of the holster on her hip and made her way to her door. It stood slightly ajar, and the lights were on inside. Did someone seriously break into the home of a vampire? Not that the culprit would have known that fact.

Bella entered cautiously with gun pointed, meticulously checking behind the front door and every corner too to make sure the place was secure, but her visitor wasn't exactly hiding. In her living room a dark-haired, brown-eyed man, oozing ancient elegance and confidence, was sitting on her sofa.

"Nice place you've got here, Isabella," that was the Original's form of greeting as he stood from his place, fastening the middle button of his dark grey suit jacket one-handedly with practiced ease, gazing upon her beige-cream colored décor as if he hadn't looked around before.

"Elijah," the agent acknowledged, lowering her weapon and stashed it back in its place.

 _This_  handsome prick of an ancient vampire she had met before. Despite his much more pleasant front, he could be just as dangerous as his younger brother. The only question being: was he working with or against Klaus this time? In either case, a gun wouldn't be helping the situation.

"Care to tell me what you are doing here?" the immaculately shaven – Bella noticed as she just couldn't take her eyes off of his jawline – man inquired as he made his way with slow, deliberate steps towards her.

"I live here. And incidentally, that means my wardrobe is here too. I came for clothes," she furrowed her brows, turning to her walk-in closet to throw some garments into a sports bag.

"Let me rephrase that. How are you able to be here?" the older Mikaelson sedately followed her to the doorway, then leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"What are you talking about?" the agent knew attempting to trick an Original was a really unhealthy life choice, but she wasn't about to give up her only advantage against them without at least a try and forced herself to stay calm and nonchalant as she grabbed some shirts and pants off the shelves.

"Don't play games with me, I know Niklaus had compelled you to stay in Mystic Falls," Elijah snapped at her, clearly starting to lose his patience but still in a lot less violent manner than what Klaus's explosive reaction would have been. Ever the gentleman.

"You know I have never met him, right?" Bella glanced his way as she continued packing, opening up some drawers and throwing a few lingerie in the mix too, not really caring if the other vampire saw her underwear or not.

"I know he had also made you forget that he visited you outside the sheriff's station, but compulsion doesn't work this way. You are either immune to the whole thing or not, not just parts of it," he surmised his opinion on the matter, but instead of cornering her into divulging the information like he had planned to, he had just given her the perfect argument to latch onto.

She was infinitely grateful that her back was to him at the moment as she grabbed some socks too because she couldn't help the little smile that tugged at the corner of her lips. If there was one thing she learned in her law enforcement carrier was how to never unintentionally reveal her cards, asking roundabout questions that made her opponents trip up.

"Okay, let's get this straight to see if I understood you correctly," the NCIS operative straightened from her crouch, facing her visitor once again, her features now in a careful poker-face. "Klaus told you he had compelled me to do something and also to forget the encounter. Now you, and maybe him too, believe I have somehow broken and acted against said compulsion, right? What is it  _exactly_ , word for word, that he had me compelled to do again?"

There was a momentary silence as Elijah thought the whole thing through.

"Ah. He really should have been more careful with the loopholes he left you with," he said finally, but never disclosed the actual contents of the compulsion. "I presume you have your suspect behind bars now then?"

"Yes…" the brunette tentatively affirmed, feigning confusion as to how he knew about this. Yes, it had been rather fortunate that Klaus also told her to bring their killer to justice, which was Joey Bates if you took into account that she was compelled to forget that the Original had revealed himself. She was just doing her job and what she was compelled to do, and that incidentally took her out of town. Quite the perfect loophole as Elijah put it. "I was just getting some clothes for my stay in Mystic Falls," she carefully worded that one too. The compulsion was to stay in town, and this little detour was surely pushing the limits of what free will she should be having under its influence.

"Alright. Then I look forward to seeing you there soon," the ancient vampire started for the exit from her apartment before stopping and turning back towards Bella contemplatively. "It's a real pity though. This union might have been a whole lot more interesting if you were actually immune like Niklaus had thought. For a moment I was quite taken with the notion that he might have finally found his equal in this world."

The front door closed behind him, and it took everything in the agent to keep her heart beating in the same rhythm as before since Elijah could still hear her, despite losing visual on her reactions. With him, she could never tell what he was thinking exactly, and she wasn't quite sure if she had fooled him or not.

Not to mention all the subtle clues that so far pointed to one thing. Niklaus Mikaelson, the Original Hybrid, wanted to make her his bride. And she wasn't really sure how she felt about that.

Hastily she finished her packing, wanting to get out as fast as possible, not feeling safe in her own apartment anymore. Logically speaking, she never entirely was, not from an Original, but until now she somehow hoped that her place of residence was a secret from them.

Right along with that, another thought occurred to her. How did Elijah get in? He should have needed an invite from the owner. She specifically didn't want to buy the apartment, knowing full-well that her being a vampire rendered that protection useless if she was the proprietor. The agent checked the locks. They weren't busted. That could be a good sign. She quickly swung her bag over her shoulder, locked back up and ran three floors down, taking two steps at a time on the stairs, to check on Mr. Robinson, the person who owned the place.

Bella knocked frantically on his door. Moments later she heard shuffling steps coming to the entrance. Either he or his wife. She could only hear one set of heartbeats in the apartment. Not such a good sign.

"What is it, Bella dear?" Mr. Robinson looked confusedly at his tenant. She sighed in relief. At least he was just compelled, not killed.  _Thank whatever Lord you might believe in_ , Bella thought, being an atheist herself.

"Did you invite a man into my apartment this evening?" she asked softly, unable to think of something else on the spur of the moment and not wanting to sound harsh with the man, but inwardly cursing her luck anyway. She had previously compelled him to not invite anyone into her apartment, knowing that if repairmen needed to be let in they wouldn't be so polite as to wait for one. But alas an Original's compulsion trumped hers.

"I… what are you talking about?" the greying elderly became even more perplexed, trying to recall something he was made to forget.

"Never mind," the agent shook her head, knowing that trying to override the compulsion was futile and not too inducive either, she had already her answer. Or at least partially. The apartment was in both of their names with his wife. "Is Mrs. Robinson home?"

"Oh, the old coot is out in the bridge club with her lady friends," he explained with a laugh. Bella wondered briefly if she really was, or this was part of the compulsion, but he didn't seem dazed when saying it, so it was safe to assume that all was fine with his wife.

"Alright, have a good evening," she turned away from him heading back towards the stairs. Another place she needed to say her farewells to soon enough.

"Goodnight, dear," Mr. Robinson called after her before going back into his apartment.

Bella got into her car once again, swinging her bag onto the seat beside her, and drove towards the highway. In a hopeless attempt to drown out her hammering thoughts she turned on the radio where Castle by Halsey happened to be playing. She laughed out with a shake of her head as she turned the volume louder. The lyrics were aptly fitting to her situation. Her whole life actually.

_Oh, all of these minutes passing, sick of feeling used_

_If you wanna break these walls down, you're gonna get bruised_

_Now my neck is open wide, begging for a fist around it_

_Already choking on my pride, so there's no use crying about it_

_._

_(Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei)_

_._

_I'm headed straight for the castle_

_They wanna make me their queen_

_And there's an old man sitting on the throne that's saying that I probably shouldn't be so mean_

_I'm headed straight for the castle_

_They've got the kingdom locked up_

_And there's an old man sitting on the throne that's saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut_

* * *

Doing 120 on the interstate, pushing her truck to its upper limits, without the security blanket of the police lights was undoubtedly not her brightest idea. Bella got pulled over. By a former colleague. One who had never been too fond of her. She wanted to scream, but instead, put on a fake smile.

"If it isn't  _Isabella Swan_ , star of the academy," Officer Phillip Jenkins sneered when he shone his flashlight right into Bella's face. He always resented the fact that as a woman she managed to become a detective in six months after getting out of the police academy, where they have been classmates, whereas he got stuck being a traffic cop. "License and registration. Don't even think that being a federal agent will get you off the hook, you are clearly not on duty, and going about 50 mph over the speed limit."

"Phil…" the NCIS agent started to get his attention, quite bored with the whole thing already.

"That's Officer Jenkins to you," he snapped, but unfortunately looked the vampire in the eye, his pupils dilating as the compulsion took hold.

"Phil," Bella addressed him by his first name anyway. "I want you to get over this stupid rivalry you think we are having. Also, you found everything in order, and you are going to let me go."

"It was good seeing you, Bella. Been way too long. You may go, have a nice trip!" Jenkins waved goodbye to his former classmate as she pulled away from him without response, laughing to herself in the car. On some days, being a vampire really rocked.

* * *

Somehow she managed to reach Mystic Falls without further incidents. Although it was already nearing midnight, she called up Jeremy anyway, most likely everyone was still up.

"Bella, thank god," the boy sighed in relief on the other end of the line at the sight of the caller ID. "When you said you were going to be late I didn't think it was going to be four hours. Everyone's worried sick."

"Where are you guys?" the vampire asked just as she drove past the "Welcome to Mystic Falls" sign. Bella suppressed a groan at that. She had passed this stupid board way too many times in the past few days.

"Salvatore Boarding House," Jeremy told her, his voice a bit apologetic.

"I told you it might not be safe," the agent chastised, still not sure whether it was Klaus's original intent to send a suspect their way or only got the idea when he eavesdropped on them – if he did, in fact, listen in into her conversation with the hunter.

"I know, but we renewed the deed to the house, and Bonnie put up some protection spells. It should be fine. I'll explain when you get here," he tried reassuring her.

"Alright, I'll be there in five, I have some more news too," Bella relented. Truthfully that house had always been a safe haven to them, she could understand the attachment. She just hoped whatever voodoo Bonnie did would hold out.

* * *

The place was surely livelier than the previous day. The lights were on in several various rooms throughout the building, but interestingly enough she couldn't hear any footsteps, heartbeats or conversations going on inside. Must have been one of the wards the witch had set up.

Bella parked down behind a blue 1969 Chevy Camaro Convertible. Damon's car, she realized instantly and had the sudden urge to rear-end his precious baby just out of spite. In the end, she decided to act like a responsible adult, unlike the 170-year-old vampire and resigned to just rolling her eyes.

By the time she reached the door, it was opened by Matt.

"I see Jeremy got the sheriff involved too," the agent smiled apologetically and greeted him with a peck on the cheek, a level of familiarity she wasn't able to project earlier with NCIS around.

"Yeah, well whatever Klaus is planning with this town again is my business too, not to mention…" the blonde was cut off by the vampire.

"Let's continue this inside where no one can eavesdrop," Bella suggested, walking past him through the entrance, leaving the guy stunned.

"How… what? Don't you need an invite from me?" Matt gaped after closing the door, glancing between it and the girl.

"Oh, so you are the new owner," the brunette laughed out. "Good choice, way too conspicuous to do away with the town sheriff. I do hope you are on vervain. Also good idea to have it stashed on you in various pieces of jewelry in the weirdest places possible."

"Yeah… already taken care off. But just how?" he still looked at her confusedly, his brows creasing in a funny way that almost made Bella chuckle again.

"I never needed an invite. To anywhere. Let's gather everyone, and I'll explain what I know," she suggested, heading to the living room where she assumed most of the gang was.

The moment she stepped into view, Caroline whooshed to her side enveloping her in a big hug.

"I can't believe you are back!" she cried out enthusiastically, practically crushing her friend. Good thing she was kind of indestructible now.

"Hi…" was all the brunette managed to say to the surprising close personal contact.

"Care, I think you are hurting her," Stefan chided, being the serious, responsible one as always.

"What? Jeremy didn't tell you? Or didn't you hear the conversation just now at the door?" Bella looked at the hunter for an explanation as to why her friends were still clueless.

"What didn't Jeremy tell us?" the blonde girl released her from the hug and looked between her friend, boyfriend and best friend's younger brother questioningly.

"No, he said you wanted to explain it yourself. And we make a point of not listening into private conversations if we can help it," the younger Salvatore shrugged. Only Stefan got a call from the hunter as he had assumed that he and Caroline were together, and he passed on the message to get back to Mystic Falls to her once she got back from her feeding trip.

"Well then, don't worry. I'm a vampire," Bella revealed, to everyone's but Jeremy's shock.

"Now that you mention it…" the Forbes girl glanced back at her contemplatively. "How come you are so hard under your skin? I have never felt something like this in any vampire I touched before."

"Hard?" the brunette quirked a brow at the expression.

"Yeah, like you have a second layer made from stone under the squishy surface," she tried explaining, pinching her arm in the process to get a better feel for it.

"Ow, that hurts," the agent rubbed the place on her skin that was assaulted by vampire fingers. "Anyway, are we waiting for anyone else?" she looked around the room. Stefan, Caroline, Jeremy, Bonnie, and Matt were there.

"Alaric might arrive tomorrow…" Jeremy started to explain when the front door opened with a bang and Tyler Lockwood marched into the living room.

"Are we seriously not locking the front door?" Bonnie turned to Matt with a pointed glare, who quickly got up to remedy that. Vampires and hybrids weren't the only members of the supernatural populace they might want keeping out, and there wasn't really a sense it making their job easier.

"Did I miss anything?" the newest arrival asked with a smirk.

"Who called the werewolf?" Bella jabbed playfully but went over to greet him. Tyler reminded her of Jacob very much, her best friend from back home, even though she found out that he wasn't a real werewolf, only a shapeshifter, whose form happened to be a wolf. A rather large one.

"What are you doing here, man?" Jeremy asked confusedly. He hadn't phoned him.

"If it's concerning Klaus, I want in. Matt said something in the afternoon that got me thinking so here I am," the werewolf smirked at his buddy, before turning to their lost lamb. "Hey, Bells," he went to hug her at first then looked at her funnily as if smelling something not so appealing. "Don't tell me you are one of them now."

"Deal with it. I have it on good authority that you used to date a vampire so shut up," the brunette shoved at him a bit, recalling that he and Caroline used to be an item. "Okay, so Rick. Who else? Where is Damon?"

"Upstairs. Sulking probably," Stefan supplied the info with a sigh.

"Let him be there, I'm not sure I have the patience for him now. Not to mention he can hear me perfectly well if he wants to. We will fill Alaric in on anything important later, but I just need to come clean about something..." Swan nervously sat down on the couch, waiting two secs until everyone gathered around for story time.

And she told them everything. From her moving to Forks, to discovering what she believed were vampires there, falling in love with Edward, everything else she found out about their kind. The Volturi who governed the cold ones. Her run-in with that other coven that led to her getting bitten by James but not turning because Edward managed to suck the venom out. The unfortunate birthday party that led to the Cullens abandoning her. The Quileutes and their shapeshifting ability that somewhat resembled werewolves – that part actually making Tyler snort but he quickly shut up when Bella glared at him.

"…so that is why I left Forks. I traveled around the country a bit before ending up here with you guys. I really wanted to stay, you made me feel so welcomed and I'm sorry I hadn't told you all this before, but I just wanted a fresh start. I only ever confided in Damon, thinking he really cared about me despite his bad-boy front that he projects. But then he went and turned me despite knowing that I didn't want to become a vampire. I know you guys warned me against him…" the federal agent trailed off rubbing her face exasperatedly for her own stupidity and naivety with the older Salvatore brother.

"I'm going to kill him," Caroline stated with eerie calmness and a sadistic smile on her face, supporting the other girl wholeheartedly.

"You might want to hear the other side of the story before going psycho, Barbie-doll," Damon spoke from behind them, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

"And what would that be? Some 'it was for your own good' bullshit?" Bella snapped at him angrily, unable to contain her contempt. "Give me a break!"

"I decided to turn you because Victoria was still tracking you," he revealed in a flippant tone, but underneath it all, you could tell that he didn't take it lightly. "You weren't safe. Not to mention the Volturi, who would have hunted you down if they ever found out that you knew about cold ones and were still human," the dark-haired vampire explained further, effectively rendering Bella speechless.

"Victoria? The redhead who was with James?" Stefan frowned, trying to piece together the story for all of them. "Why didn't you just kill her?"

"She had an uncanny ability to slip through my fingers," Damon mockingly retorted. "Must have been a gift that some cold ones have. I was trying to catch her for two weeks before I went and turned Bella. It was only after she left town that I was finally able to grab her because she got distracted by the change in her scent as she tried to follow her," he explained further the circumstances that led to the outcome that Bella had resented so much.

"Bella?" Caroline was more focused on her friend than the back and forth between the brothers. She was staring into space, trying to emotionally process the things she had just heard.

"Give me a minute," she said, standing up from her place and leaving the room.

"Cold ones have gifts? Like witchcraft?" Bonnie inquired, trying to find a topic that they could continue on until Bella got herself together. She wasn't heartless or inconsiderate of her, far from it, but time was of the essence where Klaus was concerned, and they needed information to be able to formulate some kind of a plan.

"Yes and no, not like the Heretics, and not all of them. Some humans have special talents – maybe they are dormant witches, I'm not sure – and when they get turned into a cold one, these get intensified. Bella's prick of an ex, Edward, for example, could very easily read people when he was human, which evolved into full-blown mindreading after his change," Damon told her the parts that he knew from the brunette's stories from five years ago.

"Except Bella," the witch reiterated from before.

"Yes, except her. I think she has a mental shield of some sort as an ability. I couldn't compel her when we first met. In the beginning, I thought she was on vervain, but then she told me all of this, and it became clear that wasn't it. Not to mention I could feed on her without any adverse effects," he smirked as he recalled her sweet taste. No wonder that sparkling fairy dipshit was so drawn to her, that she was his singer.

"You fed on her?" Caroline screeched with outrage, jumping from her spot, staring daggers at him for a few seconds before storming out of the room after Bella to comfort her. History repeating itself it seemed. Her initial encounter with Damon had been just the same, coupled with a compulsion that at least Bella was free of.

"With her permission.  _Duh,_ " the older Salvatore called after her annoyedly, as if that excuse made it alright.

"But becoming a vampire… I mean regular vampire… God, this is confusing," Bonnie exclaimed exasperatedly, wishing that the spirits had given her a more detailed account than just informing her that "oh, by the way, there are different kinds of vampires and now a hybrid has popped up," preferably one that also listed the differences.

"Just call the others cold ones," Damon rolled his eyes condescendingly.

"Fine. So, vampirism isn't compatible with other forms of magic, her shield should have gone away," the witch reasoned. Besides the siphoning ability of the Gemini coven heretics, there hadn't been a single form of magic so far that wasn't suppressed by the blood magic that created vampires.

"Except, I believe from when she was bitten by a cold one, some of that venom lingered in her scar, which probably preserved and enhanced said ability," the dark-haired bad-boy revealed his suspicions at last.

"Tell me that you are not saying what I'm thinking," Jeremy chimed into the conversation, looking towards where Bella had left the room.

"That is exactly what I'm saying. I think Bella is a hybrid between the two vampire species," Damon surmised.

"Not to mention potentially a witch," Bonnie added.

"Yes, that too. Whatever," he agreed sarcastically.


	8. Coming out Part II

Bella could hear them talking from upstairs where she took refuge in one of the rooms, not even looking where she was going. If she had a choice she would have wanted to go outside, get some fresh air, but with Klaus possibly lurking around that wasn't really a safe option.

Moments later Caroline joined her.

"Bella, I'm so sorry," the blonde tried consoling her in barely a whisper to keep their conversation private from supersensitive hearing.

"All these years I thought that Damon was the biggest douche in the universe, even trumping Edward. But it turns out he was just protecting me. I don't even know what to think anymore," she turned to her friend agitatedly.

"Don't worry, he is still the biggest douche in the world," Caroline smirked, causing Bella to actually crack a small smile at the reassurance. "He should have told you, consulted you on how to handle the situation."

"He is right about the Volturi, you know. Maybe there really wasn't another option in the long run," the brunette told her, for some reason wanting to create excuses for his behavior.

"It still shouldn't have been his choice when that actually happened. You know you are in his room though, right?" the blond vampire asked with concern as she glanced around.

"Fuck… I knew it seemed familiar," Bella chuckled darkly. Her human memories weren't as clear as the ones she had acquired since. "He had brought me up here before. Kissed me once, right there on this bed, just days before turning me. I knew he loved Elena, but I let him anyway. I was so stupid."

"No, you were not. You were just in love," her friend hugged her again, this time the brunette returning it. She was never that big on hugs, but it felt nice just now.

"No. I wasn't. With Edward I was. Unhealthily so. With Damon, it was just nice to get the attention," the agent muttered into Caroline's shoulder, a bit ashamed of that truth.

"Yeah, I can attest to that. Damon has a way in bed for sure," the former cheerleader recalled those early days with the Salvatore brothers in their lives, now somewhat glad that becoming a vampire released the compulsions that made her forget parts of the experience.

"Ew. TMI," Bella feigned being grossed out, pushing her head away from its resting place to make a face at the blonde. "We never got that far. I left the moment I awoke after he snapped my neck. I'm still a virgin, you know," she confided in her.

"Well, we can try and help with that," the blonde conspiratorially winked at her.

The conversation from downstairs hit their ears again.

_"Not to mention potentially a witch," they heard Bonnie say._

_"Yes, that too. Whatever," Damon agreeing sarcastically._

Bella took a deep breath. "Alright, it's time to get everything in the open."

* * *

Both girls whipped downstairs to rejoin the others with supernatural speed. Caroline went and sat down by Stefan's side, but the brunette remained standing to have a better view of everyone.

"Sorry for that interlude," Bella started with a sigh as she took note of all the worried glances of varying degrees towards her. "I have a proposal. How about, from now on there are no secrets between us. Regarding who we are, or if something happens that might concern someone else in the group. And I don't care if you think that you are protecting that person by keeping quiet," she emphasized, throwing daggers with her eyes at the older Salvatore brother. "Yes, I'm looking at you, Damon."

Said dark-haired vampire threw his hands up in the air in a dramatic fashion, conceding to her will.

"Alright. So, yesterday as we talked with Jeremy, I deduced that probably I'm the hybrid Klaus is looking for, just like you came to that same conclusion," the agent shot another begrudging glance at the moron of the grouping because surely he had realized a long time ago. "Anyone wants to make any other confessions before I continue?"

"I ate all the muffins Caroline brought," Damon spoke up flippantly, obviously not taking the meeting too seriously, and also just to get on Bella's nerves.

Everyone looked at him exasperatedly, rolling their eyes, but no one deigned to acknowledge him with a sassy comeback.

"In the morning Klaus also sought me out by the station. He set up Joey Bates to take the fall for the murder of the petty officer. Then said something else that got me thinking. I believe he arranged the whole thing to lure me back to Mystic Falls because he wants me to be his mate," the brunette revealed with mild disgust at the notion. He was a sociopath. A cold-blooded murderer. He caused so much pain for her friends in the past years.

"WHAT?" Caroline was the first one to react. There was a hint of jealousy in her tone too that Bella wasn't expecting. The Original used to have an obsession with her, she knew that but why on Earth would the blonde care if he moved on or not? "Are you sure?"

"He was very vague, but he tried to compel me to forget what he said when he thought that I might have figured out his intentions from that small hint," Bella reasserted her reasons that brought her to that conclusion.

"What do you mean tried?" Stefan skeptically inquired.

"As it turns out, I can't be compelled even by Originals. I was supposed to stay in town until he was 'ready' for me, and when I didn't, Elijah broke into my apartment to confront me privately," the agent revealed, sitting down, feeling uncomfortable with standing out so much, even if the change in position only resolved the physical aspect of it. Everyone's attention was still intently on her.

"So now they know? Damn, that would have been a nice secret leverage," the younger Salvatore brother dejectedly leaned back against the couch.

"Let me finish. Fortunately, Klaus also compelled me to 'bring the killer to justice' so theoretically there was a loophole that enabled me to go to Charlottesville and back to D.C. because the investigation required it. I'm not sure whether I did manage to convince Elijah that I wasn't immune to compulsion or not though. More importantly, he also let some words slip that has me thinking that I was right. Elijah was talking about a 'union' and Klaus finally finding 'his equal,'" Bella purposefully exaggerated the quotation marks with her fingers to make sure they understood that these weren't her words.

"Wow," Caroline managed incredulously. What the hell was Klaus thinking? Certainly not the proper way to woo a girl, by killing a poor innocent bloke to force back to Mystic Falls. "Just wow."

"You guys know that because he is a werewolf hybrid he can procreate, right?" Tyler interjected with disgust, referring to the child he already had with Hayley Marshall because of nature's loopholes. Hope Mikaelson, the first vampire-werewolf-witch hybrid, born just over a year ago.

"Yeah, but Bella can't!" Caroline huffed at the ridiculous idea. Was that really it? He wanted another overpowered offspring?

"I'm not so sure about that," Jeremy frowned to himself as something occurred to him. "Bella, yesterday when we were at the house, you said you have never drunk human blood before, right?"

"Yes, that's right," she affirmed with a nod.

"Great, another bunny eating munchkin," Damon rolled his eyes mockingly, throwing a pointed look at his younger brother accusatorially, completely missing the point.

"Stefan isn't the one who thought me that remember?" the brunette sardonically reminded him of her time with the "vegetarian" cold ones.

"Guys, you don't get it, do you?" Bonnie sat up straighter, being the first to catch onto what Jeremy was insinuating. "Bella  _never_  drank human blood. How the hell did the transition even go through? You should have died after 24 hours."

"She is a hybrid, Bonnie. Get with the program already," Damon jabbed at her, frankly quite bored with this whole discussion already.

"Cold ones are turned differently," Bella began contemplatively. "They are venomous, and one bite is all it takes. Then three days of excruciating burning pain as I was told. So bad you are unable to move and wish to die all the way through. And that's it. The burning thirst after waking is the same, maybe even worse, but one could survive solely on animal blood. Carlisle has never drunk human blood either, and he was turned in 1663. Fit as a fiddle."

"I'm not sure how much you have researched Bella after becoming this way, or what cold ones are in this regard but vampires are magically reanimated human corpses, which are inhabited by the spirit of the deceased person and who closely resemble the living human they were before their transformation," Bonnie went onto give an explanation that sounded very much like a lecture at school. "Basically it's a blood ritual. To turn you are required to drink the blood of a vampire shortly before dying. When you wake after this, first you are in transition and have to drink human blood within 24 hours to actually complete the process, or you die. For real this time."

"From what Carlisle told me, cold ones are more like an evolutionary anomaly race, the venom transforming their DNA. They have been around for several thousands of years I think. Maybe even ten thousand," the brunette vampire unsurely revealed. Besides those minute talks with her almost-adoptive-father-in-law, only various tribal legends spoke of their kind, and those were very superficial too, just the basic outward characteristics were documented.

"And can they make vampire babies? You know… by sex?" Caroline probed with a mixture repugnance and curiosity.

"Ugh. No. I found some Ticunas legends though from South America about demon children, human-vampire hybrids, fathered by  _Libishomen_  - male cold ones - and human females. Balkan folklore refers to these hybrids as 'dhampirs.' But I couldn't confirm anything for sure. As for women, I don't think it's possible. Their body's natural changes no longer occur, no longer aging or growing, so I don't think their uterus could make necessary adjustments to develop a fetus," the agent was sometimes immensely grateful for her biology education in high school, not to mention her weird phase two months after her turning when she went and reread everything she studied before just so that she could have perfect recall of it.

"So why would Klaus think that Bella could give birth to his double-vampire-werewolf-possibly-witch super-babies?" Bonnie mused confusedly. All signs pointed towards the fact that Bella wouldn't be able to conceive.

"Cold ones don't die to become what they are right?" Jeremy excitedly questioned, apparently some sort of idea already forming in his mind.

"Their heart stops beating at the end of the third day," Bella shot him down, but it didn't seem to faze him, too hooked on his hypothesis.

"Yes, after the process goes through, but what I mean is… what if you never actually died? Not for real. The little venom in your system that interacted with the blood magic, making you a hybrid, also somehow protected you from actually dying. That's why you didn't need to complete the transition," the hunter enthused still, ignoring the dubious looks everyone was giving him.

"That's one hell of a wild assumption. Not to mention that I still need to drink blood," the brunette informed him sardonically. Did it really matter if she could have children or not? It didn't change the fact that she didn't wish to become a mother, nor that Klaus wanted her. The agent doubted there was anything he  _could_  do, magically or otherwise, to impregnate her if she was sterile.

"Are you sure about that? Have you tried going without? Eating only normal human food," the Gilbert boy inquired, still intent on the idea that somehow she also remained human despite her obvious vampiric tendencies.

"One month was my limit. I get really restless after that. But now that you mention it, I never experienced actual blood frenzy or have my true vampire face revealed, ever," Bella contemplated.

Surely this wasn't normal. The red, blood-shot sclera with protruding veins around the eyes and elongated fangs were what made vampires vampires. Either she had immense self-control, or maybe she didn't even have fangs? Cold ones didn't have them, their teeth sharp enough on their own to make it redundant. She couldn't help but run her tongue along her teeth, but it felt normal to her. In any case, she was perfectly capable of tearing through the skin of large-bodied animals, so she wasn't too worried.

"God, this is so freaky. It doesn't make any sense. At all," Caroline exclaimed, rubbing her temples, unable to process all this new information.

"Welcome to the Bella freak-show everyone," the hybrid chuckled darkly. In all her life she had never fit in anywhere, and even in the supernatural world, she ended up being a unique anomaly.

"I meant no offense to you by that," the blond vampire apologized, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder reassuringly.

"So what else? You have a beating heart and need to breathe, but that's true for vampires too. Would you revive after suffocation or oxygen deprivation?" Stefan asked, having had the misfortune of experiencing that torture. Dying over and over again because the circumstances of his revival were less than favorable. Being locked in a safe at the bottom of a lake for three months. Less than desirable was putting it mildly.

"Haven't tried and not planning to start now," Bella shook her head with a grimace, unaware just yet that the previous inquiry had started a flurry of questions regarding her nature as a vampire in everyone's mind. "Cold ones don't need to breathe at all though. They only use it for their sense of smell, and actually, I can go without oxygen too."

"Can you shut your humanity off?" Bonnie inquired quickly.

"Same as before, never tried," she shuddered at the mere thought of losing herself like that. Having a flighty and irresponsible mother meant that she was the one who had to stay in control. It had become ingrained in her personality, and she wasn't willing to relinquish it.

"Stakes? Do stakes actually work against cold ones?" Matt fired off the next question, unsurprisingly focusing on the ways humans could defend themselves.

"No, only the teeth of other cold ones or the shapeshifting wolves can penetrate their hard skin as far as I know. Probably actual werewolf teeth too, I don't know. They call them the Children of the Moon by the way. Not sure if they would be venomous to them though. But I haven't tried that either... Geez, do you guys think I'm suicidal or something?" Bella glanced between her friends with an incredulous scowl on her face.

"Full moon is in four days, we can have Tyler here test that out for you," Damon remarked in such an obscure tone that no one could decide if he was joking or not, causing several heads turning toward him with unimpressed glares.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Klaus's blood is the only thing that could cure it if I'm not immune and I have no intention of going for help to him. Have you guys seriously gone crazy?" the brunette huffed, her eyes darting from person to person at the ridiculousness of their questions.

"We should test the stakes later though…" Stefan suggested, quickly amending his statement when both Bella and Caroline looked at him scandalized, not expecting something like this from him. It was Damon's forte to come up with the most ridiculous ideas. "Not through your heart, don't worry, but we should have as much information as possible."

"Ugh. Fine," the agent relented, although not looking forward to the pain at all. Not one bit.

"Healing abilities?" the younger Salvatore asked just to make sure his previous proposal wasn't going to put her through weeks of recuperation.

"Same as you, don't worry," Bella muttered with finality, not wanting to go into detail how she found that out, placing her head between her palms as she waited for the next question that was inevitably going to come her way soon enough.

She had bit herself once, naturally curious when her research and her own experiences with her vampirism weren't adding up. Now that she thought about it… that should have scarred up right? Cold one venom was the only thing that could leave blemishes on their skin, Jasper was a living testament to that. His body was marred by hundreds of them, courtesy of the Southern vampire wars. The agent glanced down at the finger in question, but there was nothing. Either your own venom didn't leave marks, or she wasn't venomous.

"Fire?" Tyler was the one to speak up next, drawn into the conversation by the werewolf topic. The agent wasn't surprised that he wanted to inquire about her weaknesses too.

"That works against both I think, but cold ones have to be dismembered first," she answered tiredly, not even bothering to point out that obviously, she hadn't tried burning herself to test out that theory.

"Sunlight?" Bonnie went further on that line of questions, wondering since she hadn't seen any jewelry on her that could house the blue stone needed for the witch spell that enabled vampires to walk in the sunlight.

"Cold ones are fine, but they sparkle…" the brunette began, being cut off by the hearty laugh of Damon. "Shut up. They sparkle because their cells are hard and refractive as if they were multitudes of small prisms. I don't sparkle, but I don't need a lapis lazuli daylight ring either."

"Huh," the witch tried to make sense of that. Maybe Jeremy was onto something after all. "Invites?"

"Cold ones don't need them, and I don't either. Another thing. Cold ones have red eyes if they feed on human blood and golden or amber color if on animals, both darken as they grow hungrier, turning almost black if they are at their limit. They experience worse self-control too when that happens. But mine has stayed my natural color, chocolate brown," Bella revealed, happy that they weren't trying to find ways to kill her anymore.

"Interesting. Vervain?" Bonnie continued, the agent almost groaning at how wrong she was just before. Although they never heard of a vampire actually dying because of vervain, exposure to or ingestion of it causes a vampire to become severely feverish and weak to the point that it can even hinder their healing abilities as well.

"Burns me, but has no effect on cold ones," the hybrid told her, letting them extrapolate that probably all the other effects were in place too, but when Bonnie looked at her questioningly, she continued, guessing that she wanted to know how exactly the agent had come to discover this weakness. "I picked up a syringe at the town square, and it heated up my skin even through the gloves. So I'm guessing I won't be able to compel someone who has ingested it either."

"But normally you are able to compel. Do cold ones have this ability?" Stefan decided to take the reins of the questioning at this point.

An interrogation. That is exactly what this felt like to the agent. Even if she was the one who suggested that they shouldn't have secrets, she was starting to feel drained by it. Her time with Edward was the last time she ever felt this exposed.

"No, but there is something about them, their appearance, smell that attracts humans, like a moth to a flame," Bella stated, internally thinking that was a huge understatement.

"We can easily test the compulsion under vervain theory," Jeremy suggested smirking at the sheriff.

"Oh boy," Matt groaned, already knowing that nothing good would come of this.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't make you do anything horrible even if I could…" the brunette tried to reassure him, just to be cut off by their deranged vampire in the room.

"Here's a clever idea! Compel him to shove a stake through your arm. Two birds with one stone," Damon exclaimed, enjoying the idea far too much.

"Damon!" Caroline cried out chastising him, but her friend already leaned towards the blond boy.

"Matt…" the hybrid turned to him with a heavy sigh, looking deep into his eyes, actually quite confident that this wouldn't work. "Get a stake a stab me through the arm with it."

"Nope, nothing," the sheriff exhaled in relief when obviously the compulsion didn't take hold.

"At least you are normal in some things…" Caroline commented only to trail off when she saw Damon getting up from his place.

He whipped to a cabinet where some stakes were stashed and ran at Bella with it, only for her easily sidestep him. Caroline yelped in fright and surprise because she had been sitting right next to the brunette. The older Salvatore managed to chase her into a corner though on his fifth try since he was more familiar with the layout of the house, and shoved the stake at full force against her thigh, as currently, that was the only easily accessible part on her. To his surprise, instead of going right through her skin it shattered as if encountering an incredibly hard surface, like granite.

"Don't ever do that again.  _Ever,_ " Bella shoved him away furiously, sending him across the room.

"Aren't vampires supposed to be stronger and faster than cold ones?" her dark-haired opponent inquired in bewilderment, not expecting to be so easily manhandled by the tiny girl.

"Wrong," the brunette told him with an angry huff. "At least partially. That's not a universal rule. Newborn cold ones are at their strongest, probably even rivaling vampires that are several hundred years old. Later it really depends on their personal traits. Some cold ones are strong enough to stop a cement truck on a freeway with one hand, and Edward was the fastest thing I have ever seen in my life. For vampires it's the opposite, they grow stronger with age. So theoretically if a cold one and a vampire matched off, given they were exactly the same age, then the vampire would probably win."

"Want to test that theory out, sweetheart? You and me and good old fashioned arm wrestling," he winked at her suggestively and for some reason for a second Bella had the impression he wasn't talking about arm wrestling at all but decided to ignore it.

"I'm not a normal cold one remember? And besides, that enhanced strength wears off after the first year and I'm five already, whereas you are 150," the agent complained, trying to get out of this utterly unnecessary pissing contest.

"Soon 152 from the day I was turned," Damon corrected her, before realizing something. "Ooh. Our turn day is actually in twelve days, baby Brother."

"Even more the reason to test out just where exactly you are at as a hybrid," Stefan interjected to Bella, ignoring his brother's other comment.

That actually reminded the hybrid that it was her birthday, midnight having already passed.

"If I had to make a guess, Bella, you probably retained your newborn strength from your cold one side," Bonnie offered her opinion.

"Except the squirrel diet weakens both cold ones and vampires," Damon mocked, anticipating that he would have this one under his belt fairly easily.

"For your information, it's elk and the occasional mountain lion that I can find," Bella huffed at him, taking some offense at his comment.

"She had no problem tossing you across the room," Caroline reminded the older Salvatore brother with a hint of jabbing, smirking widely when she saw that it had pushed just the right buttons.

"Hey! She caught me off guard," Damon exclaimed indignantly.

"Yeah, tell that to yourself if it makes you sleep better," Caroline gibed further.

"So what are you suggesting?" Bella turned to Bonnie, ignoring their bickering.

"Have a match with every vampire in the room. Damon and Stefan are the same age, but they are on different diets. Caroline is only a year or two older than you, but she gulps down B+ bags like nobody's business," Bonnie summarized with a wide grin, thinking that this was actually a brilliant idea.

"Hey! I can't help that it's my favorite! It also doubles as my personal motto: Be Positive!" the blond vampire cried out heatedly, not appreciating that her best friend was making fun of her.

"Fuck my life…" the hybrid muttered to herself, looking up the ceiling for some kind of help at these turn of events.


	9. When push comes to shove

There was no way around it. Upon Bonnie's insistent urging, Bella ended up in an arm wrestling match with just about every supernatural being in the room as Tyler wanted in on the fun too, much to the brunette's dismay. Even the witch yearned to test out if she could affect the hybrid with her headache-inducing or other magic tricks to distract her. Jeremy – although being a member of the Brotherhood of the Five, a group of supernaturally gifted vampire hunters – knew that on a level playing field such as arm wrestling he was no match for a vampire, so he didn't force the issue.

They started with the werewolf, given that it was still quite far away from the full moon he should have been the weakest among them at the moment, and decided to build up from there. Matt and Jeremy couldn't keep their snickering to themselves with all the supersensitive hearing in the room and the agent shot annoyed glares to shut them up but to no avail.

"Ready Bells?" Tyler challengingly inquired, placing his elbow on the table they had set up for the matches.

"Let's just get this over with already. I want to go to sleep," the brunette yawned exaggeratedly to prove her point. She had been up since six in the morning, and it was nearing 1 AM already.

"Do cold ones sleep?" Bonnie perked up, finding another topic they haven't asked Bella about yet.

"If I answer will you guys promise that this is the end of this twisted twenty questions game?" the hybrid grumpily requested as she sat down opposite from the werewolf. She had a new found appreciation as to how Edward must have felt when she dug into his secrets at the beginning of their relationship.

"Sure," the witch gave her word after glancing around and confirming everyone's nods of agreement.

"No, they don't, at all. But I do. And I'm exhausted," Bella revealed as she readied herself for the arm wrestling match and put her hand in Tyler's.

"Just be careful and don't break that. It's an antique," the older Salvatore frowned as he watched them flex their muscles against each other, waiting for Bonnie to begin the match.

"Seriously, Damon? Since when do you care? Over the years we have broken more than a dozen furniture in this house," Stefan quirked a brow at his brother's sudden concern for the family heirloom.

"Exactly. Soon there won't be any left!" he exclaimed dramatically.

"The arm wrestling was your idea. So deal with it," Bella huffed, having no patience for any more delays.

"Alright," Bonnie put her hand upon the contestants' intertwined fists. "Ready, set, go!" She lifted it off to signal the beginning.

In a fraction of a second, without any real effort, Bella shoved the werewolf's hand against the desk, it creaking slightly under the abuse.

"Ow…" Tyler gasped as he rubbed his wrist slightly.

"Sorry. I didn't really have opportunities to test the limits of my strength much," she apologized for overdoing it.

"Alright, Caroline next," the witch instructed hastily, trying to be considerate of Bella's wishes to hurry the process along.

"Couldn't we have found some less macho way of power demonstration?" the blonde inquired, crinkling her nose in distaste.

"Would you have preferred a strawberry jelly tub wrestling match in bikinis? Because I surely would, if it's you two fighting," Damon smirked and winked in a particular kind of mischievous way that despite the words he had uttered made him quite appealing, probably would have melted the heart of just about any girl. Except they knew him better.

"Pervert," both vampire girls muttered in unison, exploding in giggles afterward, eliciting a grin on Bonnie's face too.

"Okay, no more distractions," the witch amusedly got them back to business. "Ready? Begin."

This time Bella held back and took better control of how much force she was putting into her arm, but the result was the same, just without hurting her friend. Caroline never stood a chance against her.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side," she quipped with a laugh as she let Stefan take her place at the table.

The younger Salvatore had just about the same level of luck. Even Damon's overconfident demeanor seemed to have faltered as he got ready to match off with his ex-fling.

"Not so sure now, are you? Remember when we are done that you wanted this," Bella chuckled as she saw him nervously glancing at her arm, which was already positioned there waiting for him.

"Don't get so cocky, Brownie," the older brother jabbed at her, but it was evident that his heart wasn't that into the teasing.

"Enough, Damon. Get into position already," Bonnie admonished him, itching for it to be her turn already.

The agent decided to mess with him a bit, and when the match started, she purposefully let him get some leverage, pretending to be struggling against his hold, almost allowing the back of her hand touch the desk. His expression of elation at the impending triumph was priceless. Then at the last second, she effortlessly pushed his arm down to the other side. A bit too forcefully. The desk broke in half underneath them.

"That was mean," Damon muttered with a pout as he rubbed his shoulder that was jerked on too hard.

"Do you really want to do this Bonnie?" Bella looked at the witch, pleading for her to forfeit. "I don't think any of your magic would have an effect on me. They work through the mind, don't they?"

"Good question," she seemed to be thinking about the theory and mechanics behind her power in regards to vampires. "Let me just try one thing."

Mentally she thought of the incantation  _Ah Sha Lana_ , focusing on Bella. Nothing happened for seconds.

"Huh," the Bennett girl said finally in contemplative awe.

The last time she wasn't successful in using this spell was years ago when she was only just discovering her witchcraft. Katherine, Elena's 600-year-old vampire doppelganger was unaffected because Bonnie wasn't experienced enough yet with her powers. Just to rule out any possibility of her magic not working for some reason, she directed her attention to Damon momentarily, making him cringe in pain instantly, his hands flying to his head.

"Hey, what was that for Medusa?!" the older Salvatore cried out furiously when the pain subsided, looking accusatorially at the witch.

"I'm sure you had that coming for one thing or another. If nothing else you got that for turning Bella without asking her first," Bonnie nonchalantly remarked, turning back to her friend. Meanwhile, Damon muttered "judgy crazy bitch" under his breath. "I'm actually not sure if it's your shield that's blocking me or you are too powerful for me to affect you. That spell was supposed to burst some blood vessels, but it's possible that the principle it works on is that it tricks your mind into commanding your body to raise your blood pressure to the point that it causes aneurysms, and not directly affecting your body."

"In any case, I'm glad it's not working," the agent shuddered as she empathetically imaged what it would feel like.

"Let's just hope you never turn evil. I'm not sure what could be done to stop you if you did," Bonnie warned her, a bit fearful of the possibility.

"Thanks for the faith in me, I guess," Bella scowled at the implications. Like she hadn't proven herself already that she belonged with the good guys.

"You know, this makes me wonder… Could Bella be stronger than Klaus?" Stefan mused out loud to Bon, his face in a similar frown.

"Physically? Eh. Maybe," the hybrid theorized with a sigh based on the previous outcomes. "My compulsion isn't stronger than theirs though. Elijah managed to override the compulsion that I have placed on my landlord to not invite anyone into my apartment."

"You said he broke in!" Caroline pointed out the discrepancy in the story.

"I consider him going behind my back, and tricking the owner of the apartment into inviting him in breaking and entering, thank you very much," the NCIS agent told her, even if strictly speaking that wasn't recognized by the law. But in her opinion, it would have been if humanity, in general, was aware of the supernatural world.

"You should have compelled the proprietor to consume vervain afterward. And equipped them with it if you really wanted it to work," Damon chaffed her half-hearted attempt at keeping vampires out.

"Yes, thank you Captain Obvious. I didn't think of that at the time, nor was I really expecting any vampire company, to begin with. Especially not Originals, whose compulsion could trump mine," Bella sarcastically retorted. "Not to mention if someone really wanted to get in, they could have just killed Mr. and Mrs. Robinson. Or kidnapped them and waited out the time until it wore off, or given them blood dialysis and countless other options that would always ensure that this protection would never be a 100% guarantee. At least my thoughtlessness hadn't put them at even more unnecessary risk. They are nice people. As for Matt, I really do hope you guys are prepared to protect him if you want this place to stay secure. I'm going to bed," she ranted on angrily, storming out of the living area yet again.

On her way upstairs she picked her bag up from beside the front door where she left it previously and found herself an empty room to sleep in, this time being meticulous to avoid Damon's.

"What is your problem?" Caroline turned to Damon once Bella was well out of view. "Ever since she arrived, you have been nothing but mean to her."

The older Salvatore brother frowned first as if trying to find an explanation himself, but couldn't come up with anything. "She's the one who started it," he reasoned childishly, thinking about their encounter the previous day where she was openly hostile with him, accusing him of ruining her life and lying, then her resentment that seeped into her words all throughout this evening's conversations too.

"Could you blame her? She now maybe understands on a rational level why you turned her, but that doesn't change the fact that she never wanted any of this. Or that your actions are what made her Klaus's target. She never would have become a hybrid if you just stopped acting like a rogue agent all the time and started to communicate!" the blonde vampire chastised him vehemently before going off to sleep herself.

* * *

The morning – well almost noon – of her birthday found Bella in an exceptionally grumpy mood. She couldn't sleep much with her mind running wild on odd tangents, leaving her tossing and turning till about 5 AM. Maybe she had been a bit harsh with Damon, but he was just so infuriating at times. Having been the Guinea pig of the night had her frustrated too, although admittedly it had been quite fruitful in regards to finding out more about herself and her capabilities. And then there was the Klaus problem.  _What do you do when an all-powerful ancient vampire wants to make you his mate?_

She needed a walk. Air to clear her head. He didn't want to kill her, couldn't compel her to do something she didn't want, it was safe enough to go outside even if she ran into him, wasn't it?

The brunette slowly crawled out of bed, grabbed her jeans, a fresh set of underwear and shirt from her bag, heading for the en-suite bathroom to take a hot shower, hoping that it would calm her some.

Twenty minutes later she was outside. Miraculously no one from the Mystic Falls Gang came to stop her from leaving the house. Not that they would have been able to anything if she was really intent on going, that much they were able to ascertain from yesterday's experiments.

Immersed in her thoughts, she let her feet take her wherever and ten minutes later she found herself in the Mystic Falls Cemetery.

"If I'm already here I might as well visit Liz's grave," she muttered to herself when she realized where she had ended up.

Bella carefully walked through the rows looking for familiar names on the headstones, silently cursing herself a bit for not thinking ahead and maybe bringing a bouquet of flowers or something to pay her respects with.

She found Sheriff Forbes's grave quickly enough. It was the one with the most flowers on it. Nothing surprising considering how well-loved she was by the townsfolk. What she wasn't prepared for was running into Elena's name on one of them.  _Logical, though…_  she thought to herself if they wanted to keep this charade up.

"What would you do in my place?" the agent found herself asking aloud as she gazed on the pretty cursive her name was engraved in.

It was practically a no-brainer. In this sense, the two girls were very much alike. Both would have sacrificed themselves without a blink of an eye if it meant keeping everyone safe. And Bella had already tried that. Sacrificing her life. Well, her undead existence… Whatever.

But would giving herself to Klaus actually make it safer for everyone? She could pay extra attention to how she raised their child, she supposed, making sure that he or she didn't turn out to be a murderous psychopath.  _If_ , of course, that was really the Original's aim and she was actually able to conceive.

It's not like she was ever planning on finding someone who she could feel just the fraction of love towards to that she felt towards Edward. Or more precisely she used to feel. It all sort of dulled into an uneasy throb at the back of her mind over the years, no longer the heart-wrenching pain that left her unable to breathe, think, move… live. Turning into a vampire actually helped.

And time, of course. Everyone said time's supposed to heal you. Healing wasn't the word Bella would have used. She hadn't done much healing. She just got better at pushing it out of the forefront of her thoughts. So would it matter if she lived alongside someone she didn't love?

"Don't worry, love. I heard Damon has her stashed away in a safe place until she can awaken," the velvety yet playful voice of the blond Original from behind her surprised her, making her jump a bit.

Speak – or think – of the devil. The agent vowed to pay more attention to her surroundings and to not let herself get caught so off guard again. Although she imagined if Klaus wanted to sneak up on her he would be able to under any circumstances.

"Yes, I'm aware," Bella managed to say through her gritted teeth, unable to adequately keep her annoyance out of her tone as she turned slightly towards him, crossing her arms as if that ought to give her protection from him.

"I apologize if I have frightened you," he smirked at her, finding the whole thing quite amusing.

"You didn't." It was the truth, she wasn't afraid for herself at all. "But you could tell your brother that it's rude to visit someone uninvited," the agent said after a moment, deeming it safe to voice her "assumption" – even with pretending that the compulsion had taken hold – that he was Klaus as she turned her attention back to her friend's faux resting place.

"I'll pass that onto Elijah," the Original's grin grew even wider, enjoying himself very much with their banter.

A few moments of silence passed before he spoke again.

"I believe congratulations are in order. For the solved case and it is also your birthday, am I correct?" Klaus probed, walking a few paces ahead to get into her line of sight again.

"I stopped aging when I was nineteen," Bella bluntly shot him down, not wanting to dwell on the fact. Why was everyone obsessed with insignificant and arbitrary divides even in their immortal existence?

"This day is special nonetheless, worthy of celebrations," the ancient vampire contradicted her exact thoughts.

"Being born isn't exactly my accomplishment if anyone my mom should be praised," the agent tried another angle to lessen her own relevance in the matter. She was in no mood for celebrations anyway.

"Shall I give her a call to offer my compliments?" the blonde joked in that still amused demeanor, but the thought chilled the girl to the bone. James and his little game of making her believe that he had Renée hostage to have her meet him at that ballet studio in Phoenix all those years ago came unbidden to her mind.

"Leave my mom out of this," Bella snarled, startled by her own vehemence.

"Alright. Allow me to take you out to dinner then, dear," Klaus offered nonchalantly, his humored grin never faltering.

"And if I don't want to what then? You are going to compel me?" The question slipped out of her, full of resentment. She hugged herself even tighter as she stared off into the distance.

"We both know that wouldn't actually work," the Original revealed, making her head snap back to him faster than humanly possible. Upon her questioning gaze, he elaborated. "Your little act almost had Elijah convinced for a second. But you see, vampires stay aware of the fact that they are under compulsion, even if they are made to forget the exact contents of the compulsion."

"Damn it," the brunette cursed out loud. Times like these made her regret the fact that she had cut herself off from the supernatural world. She would have known this if she hadn't and could have made the right adjustments to convince his brother better.

"Now, now, is that really any way for my lady to speak?" he tutted playfully, obviously not really minding her coarse language but had his fun anyway. That did not lessen the reflexive response that burst out of her.

"I'm not a lady, especially not yours. And as a former police officer, I'll swear as much as I want to," Bella snapped, not as wary of the Originals as she had been just 24 hours ago. Her confidence stemmed from the fact that she was now just about a 100% sure that the Mikaelsons definitely didn't want her dead, and somehow she believed that even if they did she would have a fighting chance against them. At least one on one.

"Feisty. I like that," Klaus skimmed her over with approving, flirty gaze, his smirk widening impossibly now. He looked like a large predator cat on the hunt.

"Ugh," the brunette groaned in displeasure. Of course, he would be the slightly masochistic type, turned on by denial.

"About the dinner though, love," the ancient vampire switched topics faster than a speed of lightning. Oddly reminded her of Edward and his sudden mood swings, but this time she was finally able to keep up. "Let me take you out, show you that there is more to this monster than you might think."

Bella observed him carefully, trying to figure him out. Why was this so important to him? And what would one dinner hurt? She could pretend to have an awful time with him and turn him down at the end, even if she ended up enjoying herself. Or would that just encourage him even more?

"Fine," she relented finally, with a heavy sigh. "Pick me up at eight, I guess?"

* * *

Saying that the gang had conniptions about the whole affair was putting it rather mildly. Bella sort of started anticipating that the moment Caroline had cornered her about where she had been when she finally returned to the Boarding House at around three o'clock after grabbing some lunch at the grill.

"I was at the cemetery," the agent curtly replied, not too pleased with having to account for her day. She was way too used to living alone for that. Not to mention that even in her childhood, under either Renée's or Charlie's roof, it had felt like she had the whole house to herself too, so she never quite learned what it meant to have someone watching her every move. "Visiting your mom, then I stumbled upon Elena's grave too."

"Yeah, we did that for pretenses," the blonde somberly replied, her face darkening with guilt as she continued. "It was nice of you to go see her."

Bella knew she wasn't talking about Elena anymore, but couldn't figure why she would feel so blameworthy for her death.

"It wasn't a burden. Liz had always been nice to me," the hybrid offered, kind of uneasily, waiting for the rain of questions or admonishing that was to follow.

"You should have told someone though, had someone go with you," she continued a second later.

Bella wondered if she had somehow developed mindreading of her own.  _No, Caroline is just that predictable_ , she concluded.

"I can take care of myself, not to mention that neither of you could do much about Klaus anyway, right?" the brunette turned to go upstairs to her room as she said that, trying very hard not to sound condescending or ungrateful. "What if he tried to compel you?"

"We are all on vervain," the vampire informed her cheerfully, quite pleased with themselves for the precaution.

"How does that work exactly? Shouldn't you be sick because of it?" Bella inquired curiously. She never tried ingesting vervain herself, not that she needed it to keep her mind protected anyway.

"Very low dose and we have been doing it just in case for years now, so we have built up quite the tolerance for it. I practically don't even feel it anymore," Caroline explained as she followed her, apparently not letting her out of her sight.

"Huh," the hybrid sighed contemplatively. She moved to her bag, rummaging through it for something appropriate to wear for the evening.  _On second thought_ , she paused, having no idea why she was actually putting any effort into how she looked for the Original. She glanced down at the only dress she had brought with herself for the trip. A simple black lace, short-sleeved, tight fit, wrap flare piece.

"Just a heads up, there's going to be a little celebration for your birthday in the evening – Happy Birthday by the way – I know you don't really like surprises, so that's why I'm ruining the surprise. Damon wanted to take you out at first, but I quickly shot him down given how much you despise him at the moment, so we compromised on a group event," the blonde nervously rambled on, standing there awkwardly by Bella's side as she crouched by her bag.

"Actually I already have plans for the evening," she started cautiously, wondering if she should lie, say that she going back to D.C. to meet up with Abby, or actually go – given that the cat about her secret immunity to compulsion was out of the bag anyway – and ditch Klaus. No, she wouldn't do the latter for sure, just in fear of him retaliating in some way on her friends – or her mom for that matter – but the former option seemed more and more inviting by the second so that she could avoid Caroline's judging afterward.

"What plans?" – the vampire asked with wide-eyed surprise.

 _Go with the truth or lie?_  Bella thought to herself, but her window for a convincing lie had passed already. Not to mention that then she would have to explain why she was willing to risk the secret of her shield to be found out. With a sigh, she went with the truth.

"Klaus found me at the cemetery…" the agent started but couldn't continue because of the incredulous exclaim that followed her statement.

"WHAT? Why didn't you say something? Are you okay? What did he want? Wait… are you saying you are going out with him?" Caroline fired off her questions in quick succession, leaving no time or space for Bella to actually answer them, her eyes on the dress that Bella had pulled out from her bag.

By the time she stopped screeching, Stefan had entered the room to see what the cause of the uproar was, closely followed by Damon. The others must have been out because no one else came despite the fact that apparently, the whole house could have heard even without supernatural hearing.

"Caroline, are you okay? What's going on?" the younger Salvatore brother asked with concern.

"I'm fine. Has Klaus tried to compel you? Is that why you are pretending to go along with this nonsense?" she inquired, trying to find a logical explanation.

"What did Klaus do?" Damon growled, the possessive protectiveness of his tone catching Bella off guard. She stared at him for a while before answering.

"He has done nothing. Yet, anyways," she thought of her mom again. "He knows I'm immune, by the way. My act wasn't as good as I thought with Elijah," she sighed before continuing. "He offered to take me to dinner."

"And you are seriously going?" Caroline asked again in bewilderment.

"I don't see how that's any of your business actually," the agent snapped at first but quickly took it back. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I know you guys are worried. But frankly, I don't think this should be a group effort. There is nothing you can do about him, and he is not trying to kill me or anything. It's only dinner. I might actually get something out of him regarding his plans if I go along. I'm a trained interrogator after all."

"Is that your only reason for going?" the older Salvatore brother inquired with evident hurt in his voice as his eyes landed on the outfit she had chosen to wear.

"Damon…" Stefan tried to rein his brother's temper in before it got out of hand.

"Fine, go get yourself knocked up for all I care! Just don't come looking for my help when you have a demonic monstrosity growing inside you!" And with that he stormed out of the room, leaving Bella utterly stunned by his jealous reaction.

"What in the actual hell…" the brunette muttered to herself as her knees gave away from under her and she slouched down onto the floor, sitting beside her heels. Why did he care so much? He had Elena for crying out loud. Even if she was the epitomical Sleeping Beauty at the moment.

Caroline and Stefan glanced between themselves uneasily.

"I'll go find him," the younger brother said finally, leaving the room.

"Bella…" the blonde started uneasily, peeking down at her worriedly.

"If you are going to try and talk me out of this, just don't," the agent huffed irritatedly, not in the mood for further chewing out.

"No… I was thinking along the lines of 'Can I do your makeup, please?'" her friend settled herself on the floor by her side, hugging her for comfort.

"That was a quick change of heart," Bella laughed out, returning the gesture mechanically.

"Come on, we both know you are stubborn as a mule. There is nothing I could say or do to deter you once you have your mind set on something," Caroline chuckled, recalling the time when a similar exchange happened between them regarding Damon. "But I can make you so pretty that Klaus won't know what hit him and forgets all his evil plans."

"That would be great. Thanks," chocolate brown eyes sought out her pale blue ones appreciatively.

"When is he picking you up?" the vampire inquired, her mind already focused on business.

"Eight," the agent informed her, suddenly wary of her intensity.

The blonde glanced up at the decorative wooden clock on the wall.

"Oh my god, we only have four hours left! Get in the shower already!" she exclaimed in a hurry, pulling her friend up from the floor as she stood up quickly, ushering her towards the en-suite.

 _Alice all over again, isn't it?_  Bella stifled a chuckle at the close resemblance in behavior.


	10. Territorial creatures

"Has anyone seen Bella?" Abby frantically ran into the bullpen at 5 PM, looking desperately for her friend, her worried scowl deepening when she didn't see her there either. "Her phone goes straight to voicemail."

"She is on leave for a week. Didn't she tell you?" Tony frowned at that revelation for several reasons as he turned towards her from by his desk. Gibbs's one of many rules was to never be unreachable. And why would she take off without telling Abby?

"I think she went back to Mystic Falls, Abby. I'm pretty sure she won't make it back tonight," McGee informed her apologetically.

"What? But we had plans for this evening. I was going to take her to a karaoke bar for her birthday," the Goth girl despaired, suddenly lost at what to do.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Abbs, but that just might be the reason why she left," DiNozzo jokingly quipped but placed his arm over her shoulder to comfort her. It was kind of an open secret that their youngest agent didn't care much for bars, drinking, or singing for that matter.

"I obviously didn't tell her where I was planning to take her," the forensic scientist pouted at these turn of events.

"I wouldn't put it past her to find out somehow. Her ability to know exactly what we had been talking about is even more uncanny than Gibbs's," Tim laughed out nervously, but then it died off quickly as he glanced at their frightened faces. "He is right behind me, isn't he?"

The answer to that rhetorical question was a slap across the back of his head.

"Enough of the chit-chat, don't you have work to do?" Jethro rounded the computer whiz's table to make his way to his own.

"Right, Boss!" both boys snapped themselves to attention, McGee turning back to his computer, while DiNozzo grabbed a bunch of files from his desk to drop them off at their appropriate destinations for archiving.

"Gibbs…" the raven-haired girl started uneasily as she followed her father figure.

"What is it, Abby?" the team leader asked without glancing up from his computer.

"It's about Bella…" she tentatively started, trailing off, knowing full-well that Gibbs would understand her from half words.

"Leave her be, Abbs," the peppered-haired agent told her sternly.

"But aren't you worried?" Abby insisted, worry etching her voice.

"She can take care of herself, besides it's personal business. Let her sort it out," he glanced up finally to make his point.

"If you say so," she dejectedly relented, wringing her hands as she stood there before starting off back to her lab.

"Have you made any progress with the syringe or that foreign substance?" Gibbs inquired on second thought.

"Not yet. I had enlisted my buddy from the botanic garden for help, but he hasn't come up with anything yet either," the forensic scientist shook her head.

"Alright, keep up the good work," the team leader stood from his place, grabbing the coffee from the table. As he passed Abby, he kissed her on the forehead and made his way to the director's office for a meeting.

* * *

"Wow, your taste in clothing sure had matured," Caroline praised Bella's choice, holding it out in her hands for examination as her friend stepped out of the bathroom, with only a towel around her torso, her hair still dripping wet.

"I actually didn't even plan on bringing that, must have accidentally grabbed it with the shirts," the agent laughed out at the assumption that she willingly would wear stuff like that. She was still the old jeans, long-sleeved shirt, and sneakers or boots kind of girl if she could help it. "I had to get that for an undercover op a few years ago actually."

"Either way, I'm sure it looks stunning on you," the blonde reiterated her approval of the dress. "Okay, did you shave or do I have to do that too?"

"Eh, no thanks. Actually, I was waxed for that same op, and my body hair hasn't grown back since. I think it's due to the cold one part of me," Bella shrugged, pleased to be able to escape that particular torture for all eternity.

"Lucky you!" the vampire enviously appraised her. Vampires have an accelerated cellular growth rate due to their healing factor. That also meant body hair. She had to wax about two-three times as often as in her human life. But at least it only took her a fraction of the time do it. All hail for vampire super speed. "Alrighty then, let's dry your hair, then I'll let you get dressed. Leave your makeup and hair to me afterward," she seemed exceptionally pumped by the whole idea, making Bella whimper just slightly, but she steeled herself in heart. She could do this, agreed to it already, just a matter of enduring now.

Caroline must have grossly overestimated the time required for the process or hadn't taken into account her extra fast working hands, because they were all but done just a few minutes after seven. That didn't mean it was less torturous. Especially the curling iron part of it.

The blonde proudly regarded her handy work, allowing Bella to check herself out in the mirror too. Her brown hair tumbled down in elegant waves on her right side, her makeup not too extravagant, just smoky eyes in nudes and browns, some mascara, and red lipstick. Vampire skin was flawless in the extreme, foundation and concealer would actually have made it less appealing to the eye. The lace dress still hugged her curves in just the right places, ending at mid-thigh.

"We just need some jewelry, stilettoes and a clutch purse, and you are all done," the blonde smiled encouragingly at her friend.

"Uhm… yeah, like I said, I didn't really plan on bringing this, so I have nothing besides my boots to wear," Bella frowned down on the footwear, just imagining how mismatched that would look with her outfit. "I can just change and go in jeans."

"Don't be ridiculous, I can lend you some of mine. You are a size 8 right?" Caroline inquired on her way out.

"6.5," she grumbled. She was tiny next to the other girl. Her feet would have been huge compared to her frame if they were indeed the size the blonde had speculated them to be.

"We could stuff some cotton fluff in the front or… I know! Elena should still have some stuff here. Let me go check," her enthusiasm never faltered, which annoyed Bella to no end. She wasn't all that attached to wearing the dress even if it would have been a tremendous help in distracting Klaus.

"She is only an inch shorter than you, I doubt her feet are that much smaller either," the agent pointed out the obvious, starting to reach for her zipper on her back to undress when Damon appeared at the open door to the room she was staying in.

"What is it about Elena?" he inquired, sort of challengingly with a hint of hurt in his voice.

"I was just going to see if there were still some shoes of hers around here. You don't mind, do you?" the blonde searched his face for hints of protest.

"Eh, sure. Try the walk-in closet in my room," the older Salvatore informed her without taking his eyes off of Bella.

Caroline glanced between them with some worry, afraid to leave them alone in case they started insulting each other – or worse – but exited moments later without another word. He kept staring at her, which made Bella self-conscious, so she turned back to the mirror, pretending to be fiddling with and adjusting her dress.

"It suits you," was all Damon said a few seconds later as he walked with slow steps towards her. From the refection, she could see that he kept his right hand behind his back, made her wonder what he was hiding.

"Thank you," the hybrid tentatively glanced up, very glad that she couldn't actually blush anymore.

Suddenly he was right behind her, his body flush against her back, holding up a V-shaped diamond necklace to her neck. Bella instinctively reached up to it as he clicked the clasp in place, watching him and the unreadable expression on his face in the mirror.

"Raising the ordinary to extraordinary," Damon commented as he began putting the matching earrings in too.

"Are you seriously quoting Fifty Shades of Grey to me?" the brunette quirked her brow quizzically at him, their eyes meeting in the reflection. She wondered whether it was meant as a compliment or an insult. Could be either, her being the light of the room, or bland and boring as a lamp post without the accessories he just brought.

"Never took you for a BDSM loving girl," he joked with a wink, very much amused that his innocent looking Bella actually recognized the book he was citing. "Or for a mommy porn reader."

"Neither. I just have a co-worker who watches literally every movie, no matter how crappy they are, and makes a point of throwing around references," the agent flinched back a bit at the image of Tony and the way she had left him in the elevator, then shrugged before continuing. "Drawbacks of the vampire life, remembering every line of nonsense people utter around you. But it does make me wonder, how do you know the book or movie it's from?"

"I get bored and read whatever shit I find lying around the house. I think this particular disgrace was in Caroline's room," Damon quipped, mocking her taste in literature.

"Uh-um," the brunette hummed teasingly as if she doubted that allegation. Truthfully, she could imagine her blond friend having bought something like that. Didn't explain why Damon would pick it up and read it though.

"Doesn't make the statement less true," the naughty, playful Salvatore was gone, his expression back to being intense and very serious as if he meant every word of it despite the corny piece of pop literature it came from.  _Compliment it is then._  "You have truly made a full ugly duckling to swan transformation," and the jokester was back again. "No pun intended. Not that you were ever ugly… even as a human… you know what I mean," only to trip up on his words explaining when he heard how wrong that earlier comment sounded. "Anyway, you were very aptly named by your parents."

"What are you doing, Damon?" Bella inquired a strong hint of aporetic disapproval in her voice. Why was he getting so flustered? It was so not like him. The ever-confident and ultimate bad boy of Mystic Falls, breaker of hearts and womanizer extraordinaire.

"Can't a guy wish you luck before your… eh… reconnaissance mission?" Damon laughed nervously, placing his hands on her shoulders. Had Stefan said something to him? To try and get him to behave?

"No… I mean… sure… but what I mean is… I just don't understand. One minute you're hot…" the agent began but was cut off.

"I'm always hot, thank you very much," he smirked at her. Yet again, flippant and ever self-assured. His mood was like a rollercoaster, dragging her along too.

"Then you're cold…" she finished with a frown at the interruption. The whole thing was just so weird, she had trouble putting her finger exactly on what was going on between them.

"Who is throwing around quotes now? Katy Perry fan?" the older brother whispered to her, his lips coming close to her left ear, sending a shiver down her spine. Whether good or bad shiver, she couldn't decide yet.

"Ughh… you are impossible!" Bella wriggled herself out from under his hold, taking a few steps to the right to put some distance between themselves.

"Comes with the package, baby doll," Damon dramatically gestured to himself, causing her to follow the movements of his hands in front of his torso.

"Stop with the pet names! Seriously, what are you doing? You have Elena now, don't you?" the agent snapped herself out of the momentary daze, the real intent of the flirting finally dawning on her.

"In several decades sure. She told me to live a little until she could return to me," he shrugged in a sort of defeated, lonely manner. Bella could imagine this not being easy for him. The waiting. But that didn't make this any less wrong.

"I'm not some human you can have a fling with and forget about it. I wouldn't be long dead or eighty something by that time comes. Not to mention she is my  _friend_ ," the brunette stated furiously. How the fuck didn't he realize the position he was putting her into?

"Didn't stop you before," Damon pointed out.

"I  _was_  human back then, plus she was with Stefan. I had no idea she had feelings for you," Bella groaned frustratedly. Did he really not see the difference in circumstances? "Please don't make this any more awkward. I wouldn't be able to look her in the eye if I ever met her again."

"Fine. If that's what you want," he threw up his hands in the air, as he stormed out of the room he brushed past Caroline who had been standing there in the doorway for who knew how long.

"Good, it seems we have the jewelry problem solved," she came in nonchalantly with her spoils in hand as if she hadn't witnessed that exceptionally embarrassing exchange. They weren't particularly quiet about it so Stefan must have heard it too if he was still in the house. "Pumps or peep-toes?"

Without waiting for an answer, the blonde placed the selection before her friend. Bella stepped into the black suede peep-toes first. They were much too big as she predicted, her feet sliding too much to the front. The patent leather pumps were slightly better, but her heels were still slipping out of them. She didn't have to worry about friction burns or trouble balancing in them – clumsy Bella was a thing of the past alright – but this wasn't exactly comfortable. Even with the stuffing at the front that Caroline brought without being asked to when she noticed the same issue. Unfortunately, the only stuff of Elena's around the house were sneakers.

"I could ask Bonnie if she has anything. We still have time for her to make it here," the vampire mused out loud.

"Sure," Bella nodded distractedly. Caroline wasted no time, already had her phone at her ear requesting their resident witch to bring over some shoes.

After that uncomfortable silence fell upon them.

"Right, purse. I have this cute glittery black envelope clutch," she suddenly focused her attention back to the problem at hand and showed her the mentioned accessory.

"That's fine," the agent agreed, taking it to put her phone, wallet, and lipstick in. She regarded her friend for a moment, feeling ill at ease with the tension in the room. "Just say what's on your mind. The elephant in the room is kind of obvious."

"I just never realized how loyal a friend you are," the blonde tentatively admitted as she ran that conversation over in her head again, Bella turning Damon's advances down for the sake of Elena.

"Hardly," the hybrid snorted, recalling the way she fled from town like a bat out of hell, leaving them right in the middle of the mess with the Originals that ultimately led to Elena becoming a vampire because Rebekah had the tendency to become the ultimate bitch and ran the doppelganger off Wickery Bridge. She had no idea Elena had vampire blood in her system, that act had absolutely been done with the intent to kill. As a human, she hadn't been much help, but as a vampire, she could have stayed behind to tip the proverbial scale in their favor. And then maybe this whole thing would have turned out differently.

"No one is holding you leaving against you. Honestly, I would have done the same," Caroline confided in her. "When I transformed and remembered all the stuff Damon made me forget… To say I was pissed at him was putting it mildly, so I understand that you didn't want to see him ever again."

"Still, I could have done better," Bella pointed out, circling back to her self-induced guilt.

"Maybe, but maybe it was for the best. I mean imagine if we had to deal with Klaus wanting to get his hands on you back then besides everything else," the blonde speculated out loud. "Having a child since then might have humbled him some. Hopefully easier to deal with."

"Yes, hopefully," the agent repeated the notion with not quite as much enthusiasm.

"Emergency shoe delivery!" Bonnie's shout came from downstairs.

"Up here, Bon!" the vampire called down to her. Half a minute later the African American girl joined them in the room.

"You sure clean up well!" the witch praised her attire appreciatively. "What's the occasion?"

"Bella is going on a date with Klaus!" Caroline informed her, saying that like it was a good thing.

"For the hundredth time, it's not a date. This is an undercover operation to find out what he really wants from me!" Bella grumbled before Bonnie could get the wrong idea.

"Well, that sure explains why Damon is sulking with a bottle of whiskey in the living room," the witch commented in an amused tone at that revelation.

"More likely because Bella here shot down his proposal to get jiggy with him while Elena is out of the picture," the blonde amended proudly, hugging her yet again –  _seriously what's with all the hugging?_  – trapping her arms by her side, and leaving her feeling quite awkward.

"High five then!" Bonnie smirked holding out her palm for Bella to match it, which she did although not quite as elatedly as the girls.

"I can hear every single word!" Damon shouted up from the living room loudly enough for even the witch to hear, causing her and Caroline to go into a giggle fit.

"I think that's quite enough," Bella quietly admonished them, taking the bag from Bonnie's hand to see what kind of footwear she brought. The black glitter ankle strap heeled sandals caught her eye, and she immediately fell in love with them. It was a nearly perfect fit, and the strap took care of the rest. Not to mention it went exactly with the purse Caroline gave her earlier.

"You're smoking hot!" the vampire exclaimed, the other girl nodding along in agreement. Right on cue, the doorbell rang.

"You better get that before Damon does something stupid," Bonnie commented wryly.

The girls possessing super-speed whipped out of the room – the witch following more sedately – but they were too late since the older Salvatore had a head start.

The guys were in a staring contest, Damon throwing daggers with his eyes while Klaus just grinned in amusement at his protectiveness.

"Down boy," Bella dryly adjured as she positioned herself between the men, placing a hand on Damon's chest to keep him from pouncing on the Original.

"Ready, love?" Niklaus gazed at her, his eyes roaming freely up and down her body appreciatively. He himself was adorning a casual elegant look, in black jeans and shirt, unbuttoned at the top.

"Yes," she replied simply, throwing one more warning glare at Damon to behave before stepping out of the house to join her "date."

"If there's even a hair on her out of place when she gets back…" the older Salvatore brother warned just as Stefan made an appearance behind him.

"Then what will you do?" the Original taunted with an evil grin, knowing full-well that with the white oak stakes all destroyed there was practically nothing he could do permanently to him, and anything temporary would be retaliated as soon as he was released from its effects.

"Klaus," Bella calmly called his attention to herself. "If you hope to get anything from me, at all, including this dinner, you will leave all my friends and family alone. Are we understood?"

Her tone, so commanding and confident, surprised the werewolf hybrid at first, but a quick assessment of the situation led him to relent.

"As you wish, my queen," he said finally, drawing her hand to his mouth to kiss her knuckles. Much the same as he did in the cemetery, the old school gesture taking the agent by surprise yet again.

He led her towards the car without another word. She allowed herself one quick look above her shoulder at the gang. They were gaping at her in bewilderment and awe. That filled her with a mild sense of pride but made her wonder what the cost of her bold move might be.

Klaus opened the passenger side door of his Porsche Panamera – a car she would have imagined Elijah having instead of the werewolf hybrid, but he could have borrowed it from him for all she knew – for her, closing it after she got in, whipping around the front at a supernatural pace to get in himself.

They rolled out of the driveway with ease, unlike the uncomfortable silence falling on them. Bella intently kept staring out the window at the dark scenery.

"You look gorgeous tonight," the Original broke their laconism first.

"Thank you," she replied quietly, her eyes never leaving the streets of Mystic Falls. Soon they were leaving behind the populated area, which caused her a bit of alarm. "Where are we going?"

"Now that would ruin the surprise if I told you, wouldn't it?" Klaus told her with a mysterious smirk.

"You'll find that I don't do well with surprises," Bella quipped back serenely, but the undertone told the werewolf hybrid that he better not mess with her.

"Just my family's mansion," he decided to reveal to keep the peace.

"And I'm hoping your idea of dinner won't cause surprises either, right?" The last thing she needed was being expected to drink human blood in front of him. He probably wasn't aware that she never had and she wasn't planning on starting now. Who knew what side effects it might have with her weird hybrid constitution.

"I was thinking of cooking us some Italian pasta if that's quite to your pleasing, m'lady," the Original informed her, his antiquated accent rendering her unable to determine if he meant that line seriously or mockingly. Relief washed over her nonetheless. She could take some playful jabbing any day.

"Most agreeable, Sir," Bella tried to play along with a roll of her eyes, but neither her accent nor her vocabulary was up to the task to pull that centuries-old front off, causing her to snort at her own attempt and Klaus smiling amusedly at her.

"You really ought to smile more often," he brought her hand up for another kiss, thinking that this must have been the first time he had seen her with anything other than a disapproving scowl.

"Yeah, I've heard that a few times," the agent shrugged, pulling her hand back into her lap, her features returning to their resting state that made her look like she was constantly worried or deep in thought about something.

"Hey, I didn't mean that as an offense," Klaus searched her face for signs whether he had insulted her somehow.

"None taken," she quietly replied but returned to watching the trees whipping past them anyway.

The car soon pulled up the U shaped driveway in front of a vast, seemingly newly renovated, neoclassical mansion.

"Wouldn't your siblings be home?" the agent suddenly inquired, remembering that at least one other Mikaelson should have been in town.

"No, I've asked them to steer clear for the night," he revealed with a smirk.

At least that was something. Bella wasn't sure if she could keep her mouth shut about the various grievances she had if she were to be faced with them in person.

The Original cut the engine and was out of the car in a fraction of a second to get to her side to open the door for her, offering a hand to take.

He led her inside to the lobby with a grand staircase. The whole place was magnificent, dominated by whites and creams, quite exquisite, like a magical castle. Halsey's song came to her mind again, making her chuckle darkly.

"Something funny, love?" the werewolf hybrid asked amusedly, happy to see her enjoying herself.

"Oh, nothing. Very nice place you have here," Bella commented, not wanting to bring the trigger of her twisted sense of humor up.

"Why, thank you. A couple of my hybrids had compelled a few construction workers to renovate it," Klaus divulged with seemingly enormous gratification at that fact.

"Go figure," she muttered under her breath. She knew he could hear her, but he appeared to be intent on ignoring her sarcastic jabs.

"Care for some wine?" her host offered graciously as he led her towards the state of the art kitchen that had a connection to their wine cellar.

"Yes, thank you." Liquid courage was always welcome, especially since she could hardly get inebriated. That required massive amounts of alcohol consumption. Like several bottles of hard liquor.

Klaus brought out two glasses with what seemed like an unopened and very expensive bottle of red wine.

"Will 1975 Chappellet Cabernet Sauvignon be alright?" the original asked with a smirk, quite pleased with the collection they had.

"Sure," she didn't want to point out that she knew absolutely nothing about wine, so whatever would have been just fine.

He proficiently opened it, pouring it in the two glasses for themselves, handing her one, then raised his for a toast.

"Beautiful Isabella, may the best of your past be the worst of your future! Happy Birthday!" Klaus clinked his glass against hers, taking a sip.

Admittedly she must have been a bit paranoid about the situation still because she only began drinking from hers after she asserted that no immediate adverse effects had befallen on him.

"Call me Bella, please. I don't like my full name," the agent automatically told him.

He seemed to frown for a fraction of a second as if it was unimaginable to hate a name like hers.

"Come, sit down, Bella dear," he beckoned her towards one of the high chairs around the kitchen island. At least he adhered to her wishes on that front. Will he keep his word on other issues too?

There was something fundamentally hilarious in the notion of watching a ten centuries old creature flitting about the counters, stoves and other equipment as he prepared their meal. Yet that was precisely what she was doing. The brunette sipped some more on the wine, wondering where exactly this night would take her.


	11. Complications left and right

As they sat there across from each other at the ornate mahogany dining table – eating ravioli of all things, déjà vu wouldn't even begin to cover the feeling she was having – Bella regarded her suitor with watchful eyes. He was terribly adept at dodging questions when he wanted to. But he could have easily been a renowned chef in any three Michelin starred restaurant if he ever put his mind to it that much she had to give him.

"How are you liking the dish?" Klaus asked to break the silence.

"It's exquisite. Have you ever thought about opening a restaurant?" the agent inquired half-jokingly.

"Haven't thought of that endeavor yet," he laughed, enjoying a private joke. "Feeding on humans is more like my forte than feeding them."

"I bet," she muttered sardonically with a roll of her eye.

"I sense you take some offense in that," the Original mused out loud between sips on his outrageously expensive wine.

"As a law enforcement agent, you can damn well count on that the utter lack of regard for human life won't earn brownie points with me," Bella told him sincerely, copying his actions with their drinks. They were already on their second bottle, but all she felt was a very vague sense of buzz.

"And as a vampire?" the vampire hybrid amended, finding amusement yet again in their banter.

"My answer is the same," the brunette replied irritatedly. She pondered if the centuries would ever cause her to become so desensitized to the problems of the weaker race and hoped very much that wouldn't be the case.

"Interesting. I take it you sate your thirst from the bag then? Wouldn't be my first choice. There is something unappetizing in the idea of fridge cold blood," Klaus speculated. He hadn't done that much homework on her it appeared. Good. Just the thought that he had been watching her for who knew how long made her shudder.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I don't drink human blood. Period," Bella revealed as she took another forkful of food towards he mouth, counting on the fact that this might cause the Original Hybrid to underestimate her in later encounters if it came to that.

"Stefan's evangelism has gotten to you?" he inquired, resting his face in his palm, half hiding his smirk with his fingers as he stroked his lower lip in enthralled interest.

"I've had other influences in my life besides him if you must know. But I'd rather talk about your plans with me, Klaus, than my dietary choices," the agent steered the conversation to her real concerns for the evening, instead of her previous run-in with a "vegetarian" cold one coven in the Olympic peninsula. However lovely this Prince Charming façade he was putting on was, she wasn't going to fall for it.

"Since we have established that I couldn't compel you due to the vervain in your system I think you already know the answer to that question," Klaus had all but abandoned the pretenses of eating, intently hanging on her every word.

Bella strived really hard to hide the surprise from her face. Klaus hadn't realized her gift. They thought she was protecting her mind from them with vervain.

"I'd like to hear the full explanation instead of my assumptions," the agent requested with a smirk to hide her elation at the other revelation, as she leaned back in her chair.

"In short, I'd like you by my side. As a companion, as my queen."

 _Wow, blunt and straightforward._ What was the need for all that ploy and trickery to get her into town, then trying to make her forget his hints? What hadn't he been ready for yet in the morning yesterday?

"Okay, let me rephrase that. Why do you want me specifically? I'm sure you could get just about any girl, why go after the visibly unwilling one?" she crossed her arms just to emphasize that statement with her body language too.

"Dear Bella, unequivocally you have already grasped that you are not just any woman. One of a kind, the first vampire cold one hybrid in history."

Again how he possessed that knowledge was beyond her, but Bonnie found out through the spirits, so perhaps he had his own witches to consult with. The flattery was easy enough to ignore though.

"My question again, what is it that you want with me, knowing what you know about me? I pose no threat to you if that's what you are worried about. Of course on the condition that you leave my loved ones alone. I'm not in the business of pissing off powerful supernatural beings. I just want to live peacefully and enjoy what normalcy I can find," Bella reasserted. Why was this so hard to grasp?

"Like enforcing human laws? Chasing the bad guys?" his tone implied that he put himself in that category for the most part, despite the light teasing it held.

"What can I say? A family trait. I try to do good where I can. But alas your little stunt with James Sheridan and Joey Bates might have ruined that for me for a couple of decades."

The case was closed, but if there was anything that she might have overlooked, and Abby found something else on the syringe or from the swabs on the wounds, then NCIS might start looking again. And possibly stumble into her secret too in the process.

"My apologies. I hadn't realized it meant so much to you. How can I make it up to you?" the Original backpedaled, clearly determined on keeping her appeased. Or at least not openly hostile. Maybe he was just as wary of her unknown traits as she was of his intentions.

"Human life is precious and there nothing that could measure up to it. How do you propose to match that?" the agent decided to ride that train of thought, briefly considering if her involvement might keep the hybrid in check, sparing them future trouble. That's a sacrifice she could make right? Abide her time for a few decades or centuries with him.

"Our views clearly differ on the subject," Klaus allowed candidly.

"Clearly," Bella huffed in agreement. "As a meager start, you could answer my questions honestly."

"Anything, love," he quickly agreed.  _Eager much?_

"Why do you need me? If my information is correct, you have a beautiful daughter, whom surely has a mother too," the brunette tried diverting his attention from her as a possible candidate to ease his loneliness.

"Hope is with her mother under protection, and it is in her best interest to not have contact with me for now. As for Hayley… nowadays people would call it a one-night stand. Never meant to have been serious. She is family now, that is all," Klaus explained with a shrug, but it was evident that he cared very deeply for his family. Would do anything to keep them out of harm's way. With him being who he was that must have been a difficult task, no doubt he had many powerful adversaries.

"What do you expect of me if I were to become your 'queen'?" she didn't appreciate the baggage or potentially drawing the attention of those enemies to herself.

"Like I said, companionship. Besides, no one would dare to mess with the hybrid couple of New Orleans."

That's what she had thought, she was an insurance policy of sorts. Not so inclined toward that sacrifice now. She hated being used.

"Klaus, let me speak frankly here. You are already virtually indestructible. Are you trying to compensate for something with this ridiculous power hunger?" the agent quirked her brow at him challengingly, although she could hardly imagine small penis being a problem here, nor was he short so Napoleonian complex was out of the question too.

His chuckle in response was not what she was expecting.

"What?" Bella inquired, puzzled over his reaction.

"You remind me of someone." Naming the person would have meant nothing to the girl, he knew. Cami, the late pretty blond psychologist in New Orleans who he had employed as sort of a personal therapist, had been just as inclined to speak her mind to him, without holding anything back, making him reevaluate many things in his life.

"Well then seek that someone out for your scheme and leave me alone," the agent irately responded, causing Klaus to flinch a bit, but since she would have had no way of knowing that wasn't possible anymore, he didn't hold it against her. "I have no intention of becoming the queen of your supernatural world. Especially not after what you have done to force me to come to this little negotiation."

"Again, I apologize for offending you. Would you have accepted my request if I sought you out in D.C. without all the added circumstances?" he dared to ask with a sliver of hope that it wasn't such a lost cause as Bella projected it.

"Honestly, no. I fully intend to remain single for the rest of my existence," she stated bluntly.

That was the god's honest truth. That was her intention. For a couple of months after her transformation she toyed around with the idea of trying to find the Cullens, but each time the stinging words of Edward telling her that he didn't want her resurfaced – despite them being human memories they were deeply etched into her psyche – and she decided against it. Alice most likely saw the outcome anyway and if they had been interested in her joining their family under these new conditions they surely would have sought her out already. They obviously hadn't, and she wasn't going to go begging.

"Who has hurt you so badly that you would close off your heart?" the Original somberly inquired. If someone he knew how being denied the love they felt they deserved felt like.

"Like I would tell you that. Do you expect me to believe that you wouldn't go and hunt them down in some misguided attempt to please me? If I'd wanted revenge, I could have taken it on my own." Not entirely accurate, even if she had known that she was much stronger than a cold one, she wouldn't have stood a chance in a seven-on-one fight, but Klaus had no way of knowing those odds.

"I didn't mean to imply that you wouldn't be capable. On the contrary," the werewolf hybrid backtracked again.

Silence once again hung between them like a curtain.

"Let me show you something," Klaus stood from his place, offering her a hand, seemingly having concluded that they were finished with dinner. He did promise her that he would let her take a peek at the man behind the monster. Talking wasn't exactly the best course of action for that.

The rest of the mansion was just as lavishly decorated. Works of several famous painters hung on the walls and Bella had an inkling of a suspicion that they might have been the real deal and not just reproductions by talented copycats.

He led her to an art studio of sorts, where on the many easels scattered about the room stood just as many paintings of varying sizes. Some more were resting along the walls. Klaus had released her hand, and she took that as a cue that it was alright to go and explore, though he intently stayed where he was right by the door.

Some were dark and twisted, seemingly depicting inner demons or a cruel, cold world. Some more were cheerful, of lush green hills, or still life of bowls of fruits. Others were of city skylines at night with the full moon. The techniques used showed inspirations and influence of periods spanning at least a millennium.

"Did you paint these?" the sudden realization came to her.

"Had to pass the time with  _something_ ," he quipped with a small smile.

Bella walked in further, coming to a stop in front a piece about his family. They were all so painfully beautiful. That particular insecurity she hadn't been fully able to shake yet. After a few moments, he had come to join her by her side.

"Penny for your thoughts?" the Original hybrid asked her, searching her face for the reason why she looked so forlorn at that moment.

His question just made it worse.  _Was history repeating itself?_

"Your paintings… uhm… they are powerful. You're very talented," she managed to say, trying to stuff visions of Edward back into that darker corner of her mind.

With an adoring face, he once again brought her hand up to kiss, then ran his thumb along her knuckles.

"You are young so forgive me if you are already aware, but did you know that vampires have the ability to enter the minds of others?" he paused briefly, assessing her face for signs of realization at what he was getting at. She knew alright. Her shield must be blocking him. "The only requirement is that their mind be stronger than their target's. Originals are said to have the strongest minds in the world, yet with you… I see nothing."

"I'd appreciate if you respected the privacy of my mind, and didn't experiment with that," Bella suggested in a soft tone.

Klaus was impossibly close to her now, their eyes locked on each other. She just now realized that his eyes were dark blue-green instead of grey like she had initially thought. All she could do was stand there mesmerized. Her hand was still in his left, and his right had come to rest on the small of her back, holding her as if they were about to dance to an imaginary tune.

Surprisingly so, she didn't feel uncomfortable in his arms. The look he was giving her held nothing but curiosity, admiration, interest, not even a hint of malice towards her. And for the first time in more than half a decade, something stirred inside her.

"You are really something else, aren't you?" Klaus mused in barely more than a whisper. His hand traveled up her side, coming to a halt at the edge of her face, buried in her hair, his thumb brushing her cheek softly.

It felt like electricity humming between them as he leaned in to kiss her.

And then her cell phone went off, breaking them out of the trance. They separated quickly, Klaus groaning in frustration, and Bella fished her phone out of her clutch purse.

Saved by the bells, one might say.

"Yes?" she answered without looking at the caller ID – because only a handful of people knew this number, most being in Mystic Falls – her voice a bit thick with the tension still.

 _"_ _Bella? Sorry to bother you, but there is an Anthony DiNozzo and Abigail Sciuto here looking for you?"_  Caroline informed her reluctantly on the other end of the line.

 _Fuck_ , what were they doing here? This could go two ways if Abby was here. Either she found something crucial that reopened the case like she had feared, or she had asked Tony bring her here to confront her about standing her up for the birthday celebrations.

"I'll be right there," the agent replied humorlessly, regarding the Original hybrid with her eyes.

 _"_ _No rush just wanted to let you know,"_  the blonde tried to ease the tension she heard from her friend.

Without any goodbyes, Bella hung up.

"What did Caroline want? Who is here?" Klaus inquired anxiously, sensing the same uneasiness from her at the news. She ignored his questions.

"I need you to tell me exactly what happened with James Sheridan. Every detail. Is there any chance NCIS could have found anything that might link to the supernatural? There was a syringe at the crime scene. On that or the puncture wound from your bite perhaps?" she questioned, the crime scene analyst in her and her perfect recall of what might have been loose ends in the case kicking in.

"I wiped everything carefully. He tried stabbing me with the vervain but missed, and the contents just sloshed down beside my neck," he explained with a frown. He tried to be extra careful to cover his tracks, not something he usually bothered with when he killed a human.

"So there wouldn't be any DNA from your saliva in his neck?" Bella pushed on to reconfirm since he hadn't quite fully answered her concerns.

"Fuck," he cursed, should have thought of that. Modern advances in technology, forensic science and what it was capable of detecting still eluded him a bit. It was so much easier just twenty-thirty years ago. Far simpler times.

Bella sighed exasperatedly, and began pacing, trying to think of something that could explain this away. What would a thousand-year-old werewolf-vampire hybrid's DNA look like anyway? Does magic show up on that level like it did with cold ones? Could it be blamed on sample contamination? The body had been in the square for a few hours, would a stray wolf wandering into the town and licking the wound be plausible? Were there any real wolves in Virginia anyway?

"Wait. How did the petty officer know what would work against a vampire?" the brunette suddenly snapped her head up at the detail she hadn't paid attention to before.

"Didn't you know? He was a second cousin, once removed of Tyler Lockwood," the Original revealed. No, she didn't know. That was a far away enough familial connection that it didn't show up on their search, especially if he never actually lived here.

"Do you mean to tell me he was an untriggered werewolf?" the agent hissed. That was always a possibility where the Lockwoods were considered and since he wasn't reported to disappear every full moon from his post at the Navy that meant he wasn't full-fledged. Awfully hard to keep a no-kill record in the armed forces though.

"No, grandmaternal side, but as distantly related to one of the founding families he must have had some access to the stories passed down. And seems like he believed them," Klaus theorized, not looking too concerned.

"Why had he been looking for a witch?" she recalled that he had sought Bonnie out shortly before his demise.

"He had an incredibly strong mind for a human, must have realized that he was under compulsion to come to Mystic Falls and was looking for one to undo it. But he was the perfect candidate for my plans since he was loosely affiliated with the town so wouldn't have been odd for him to come here on his leave. Also a Navy officer, so his death ensured NCIS, and thus likely your involvement," the ancient vampire finally disclosed the whole ploy that he had been running.

Bella took another big breath and slowly exhaled. Yeah, perfect plan her ass. She wanted to rip him to shreds for all the trouble he had caused her with this.

"Alright, I'll try and handle this. You stay here, do you understand me? Under no circumstances show yourself in town until they are gone. I'll let you know when the coast is clear," the brunette somehow managed to keep her voice level and not let her vexation show through. Had she seriously almost let him kiss her?

"Your concern for me is heart-warming," Klaus smirked, misinterpreting her words, or just purposefully trying to grate on her nerves.

"Oh, believe me, it has nothing to do with you. I'm intent on protecting my friends and keeping them away from the supernatural for their own good," the agent huffed exasperatedly. She? Worried for Klaus? When hell freezes over!

"In any case, let me drive you back," he offered, suddenly intent on trying to somehow save this date from plummeting to even lower lows.

"No. I just told you to stay here, didn't I? I'll be faster on foot anyway."

On that note, she crouched down to unfasten the straps of her sandals and took them off. She didn't want to ruin Bonnie's shoes as she ran through the forest.

Without waiting for another word from the source of her current predicament, she whooshed out of the room with her purse and footwear in hand.

* * *

 _What are you doing, Bella? You can't be frolicking with the enemy! Geez, pull yourself together!_  And similar self-berating thoughts plagued her mind as she ran through the forest surrounding Mystic Falls towards the other side of town where the Boarding House was.

She had a hard time admitting it… but the evening had actually been kinda lovely, despite her resistance and the front she had put up. That is until reality suddenly set in, breaking up the fairy tale fantasy. Provided you were into the Beauty and the Beast sort of bedtime stories, except the beast, in this case, is a centuries-old Original vampire.

About halfway there, only a minute after she had left, something caught her attention. Noise, more precisely footsteps, although too light to be made by a mere human – they were just physically incapable of this level of stealth – and they weren't even coming from the direction of the town but from farther into the woods.

The brunette came to a sudden halt, trying to listen and figure out who – or what – it might be. The source of the light rustling stopped almost simultaneously. Whoever it was had noticed her too.

After an agonizingly tense ten seconds Bella almost facepalmed herself.  _Come on, there's practically nothing out there that could hurt you!_  She never actually got used to being at the top of the food chain in the last almost five years. She blended in with humans instead of hunting them, and in the supernatural world so far she had firmly believed that she was at her weakest being a newborn vampire and whatnot. A hypothesis that was thoroughly debunked last night.

"Who's there?" the agent called out when her own silliness became evident to her, taking a few slow steps towards the direction she had heard the noise from earlier.

The sound picked up again, coming closer, seemed like curiosity had won out over caution on that side too.

"Bella?"

A twenty-something looking guy with messy, curly honey blond hair stepped out from the cloaking of the trees. His voice held immense amount on disbelief, surprise, mixed in with gingerly carefulness.

He stopped breathing, Bella realized. Also that the newcomer was a cold one, one that knew her, so that could have only meant someone from the Olympic coven. Based on his hair and the vague familiarity of his voice, Jasper Hale was her safest bet. It also explained his precaution so as not to get a whiff of her scent by accident. Their last encounter was on her 18th birthday six years ago – her still being human – when a slight papercut sent him into a frenzy and attacked her.

He clearly registered that she was barefoot in a forest nonetheless and thus took this – though now utterly unnecessary – precaution in case she cut herself again to avoid history repeating itself. Since she was downwind from him, he must not have realized that she was a vampire. It was a distinct possibility that he might not have met one before and her beating heart surely confused him in his assessment even if he noticed that she wasn't quite human anymore.

Her slight pause at recognizing her almost-would-be-brother-in-law was due to the fact that he looked so different to her heightened eyes. Bella knew of his scars, but she distinctly remembered them being almost unnoticeable, yet now they seemed to be his most defining feature, jumping out at her from every visible surface of his skin.

After a few seconds that must have seemed like a while to the other party, the vampire hybrid became conscious of being rude by not answering.

"Hi, Jasper," she greeted in the friendliest voice she could manage, trying to subdue the hurt that bubbled up to the surface. "You can breathe, I won't smell appetizing."

The agent noted that his eyes were amber, he didn't fall off the wagon – or at least had gotten back on – at least that was something. The townspeople should be safe.

"How? What are you?" the blond cold one asked incredulously as he caught her scent as the wind shifted and realized that it held none of the appeal human blood should.

"A vampire," Bella stated, feeling no need to spring the hybrid thing on him.

"But…" he began perplexedly since they shared practically no similarities on the outside.

"Not that kind, we usually refer to yours as cold ones, just like the Quileutes," the brunette enlightened him.

"I see," he offered softly, although it was clear that this had been a huge new piece of information about the world to him. "I should offer my condolences I guess."

"That's kind of you, but there's no need. I have come to terms with my current state already. It's been almost five years," she told him with a small smile at the notion.

"Then why are you distressed?" Jazz suddenly inquired, looking at her sadly.

Bella chuckled darkly. "Of course. You can sense my emotions. I had almost forgotten about that."

A light tickling sensation enveloped her but did nothing to change her mood. Jasper must have noticed it too because he furrowed his brows.

"I can't affect you," he narrated the obvious, his frown deepening.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm actually glad that my emotions stay my own even if you tried to make me feel better."  _Cool_ , her shield must have evolved since her transformation. Jasper had no problem calming her down on numerous occasions in the past. "What are you doing here?"

"I was visiting Peter and Charlotte. I'm on my way back to…" the blonde began to respond, but Bella cut him off.

"Stop, I don't want to know. I don't want to know where he is," Bella shook her head vigorously. She knew she would be too weak to resist if she were to find out where Edward was.

"We had been living separately since, but alright," he offered then seemed to be contemplating something. "This actually explains quite a lot. Why Alice hasn't been able to see you very well for a while."

"Alice has been searching for my future?" the agent snapped her head up. They had abandoned her! Then why waste the trouble?

"Not too actively, but yes. Just to make sure you were alright," Jasper admitted guiltily.

 _Good._  They deserved all the shame in the world. They made her believe that they were her friends, family even. That she belonged. Then up and left without a word. Though she suspected Edward had a hand in that.

"Well, then she had done a piss poor job of it," Bella laughed out humorlessly.

She hadn't been  _alright_ her whole senior year in Forks. She had been exceptionally not hunky-dory when Laurent had attacked her in the meadow as a favor to Victoria, and from whom the shapeshifter wolves had had to rescue her. Or during her travels, most definitely not in the weeks leading up to the point where Damon had decided that the danger the redheaded cold one posed was too high to leave her human. But she was not in the mood at the moment to rehash all that.

"Look, I'm really in a hurry, but if you stick around… Actually, that might not be a good idea. There is a quite large vampire residence in town, they might take you for a threat. How about in Charlottesville? By the reservoir? I'll come by tomorrow. Not sure when I can get away though," she offered. Her anger wasn't really aimed at him. She had never held the events of her birthday against him. It was an accident.

"I'll wait. I'd love to talk to you. We all missed you," the blond cold one emphatically stated, hoping she would believe him.

"Gotta go," the vampire hybrid said instead of responding to that. It just hurt too much. As she turned to leave something else occurred to her. "Do me a favor and keep meeting me a secret from Alice until tomorrow if she missed it somehow. If not then ask her to keep quiet until then. Shouldn't be a problem if… he is not there to read her thoughts."

"Will do," he promised, hoping that his decision she could see even through the holes Bella presented in her vision and act accordingly.

"Okay. Bye," and she was gone through the thick of the trees.

Fuck life and all its complications. As if she didn't have enough on her plate already.


	12. Can't catch a break

Bella could barely see from the emotional pain by the time she reached the Salvatore Boarding House. She tried keeping it at bay while in Jasper's company but once she was out of sight, and hopefully out of range for his pathokinesis, it all just washed over her, threatening to overwhelm her. Shutting it all off was very tempting, but she couldn't afford to be a sociopathic cold-hearted bitch with the NCIS operatives waiting for her.

In the driveway, she spotted the Dodge Charger. Company car. Official business it was then. At least partially. The agent still couldn't hear anything from inside, the wards doing their job perfectly, but perhaps she could get Caroline's attention with her super sensitive hearing to fetch something so that she could clean up a bit before confronting them.

"Care? I'm here. Could you get me a towel and some water before I go in?" the brunette called out quietly by the front door.

Moments later, the blonde came outside with the requested items.

"Bella? What's wrong?" the vampire noted her distress at once. Not that she was very good at hiding it at the moment. "Did Klaus do something? Where is he? I never heard a car."

"No, he didn't do anything. I came on foot," Bella explained as she sat down and ran the water over her feet to clean them. She had to present herself as someone just coming from a date. Her hair was in disarray too from the wind, but there wasn't much she could do about that.

"You took a while…" Caroline mused out loud. A run at vampire speed along the perimeter of the town should only have taken about 2-3 minutes, yet it almost 15 minutes had passed since their call.

"I ran into an old acquaintance in the woods," the agent offered, hoping that her friend wouldn't follow up on it. She really didn't want to talk about it. Tears were already threatening to fall, and she had a façade to keep up.

"Who?" the blonde asked. So much for wishes coming true.

"Jasper," was all Bella said. Good thing she explained her whole life history to the gang just yesterday.

"One of Edward's adopted siblings? What is he doing here?" Care scowled at the name, anger, and protectiveness bubbling up inside her.

"He was just passing through on his way north. It was a coincidence. A very badly timed coincidence," the brunette dismissed, trying very hard to push her emotions down as she dried her feet with the towel and put her shoes back on.

"I'm so sorry. It must have stirred some stuff up," she sympathetically placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"That's one way of putting it," Bella shrugged with a sigh and got up from the stairs. Game face on.

"What are you ladies whispering about out here?" Damon inquired suddenly from behind them, leaning casually against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

"Why ask if you heard every word?" the agent quipped knowing that with vampires around it was practically impossible to have a private conversation and whereas Stefan made a point of not listening in, the same couldn't be said about his older brother. Not to mention that his face said it all, he was adorning a similar expression to Caroline's.

"Hey, just trying to be polite here," the older Salvatore defended his eavesdropping with held up hands.

"Then mind your own business!" the brunette hissed. Everyone was so damn nosy around here.

"Ooh, touchy, aren't we?" he smirked at her playfully. He clearly never heard of the proverb "wake not a sleeping lion."

"Go fuck yourself, Damon," Bella scoffed as she practically shoved him out of the way so that she could go inside.

"I will, thank you very much!" Damon shouted after her for the whole house to hear.

"Ew. Gross," Caroline scrunched her face at him in disgust, following her friend.

"Hey, Probie, you really didn't need to cut your date short for us. Especially since clearly you were having a great time," DiNozzo greeted her cheekily the moment she set foot in the living room where they were seated, referring to her windswept hair that she couldn't fix, either figuring it was messy after sex hair or was just trying to tease her.

"The top of the car was down as he drove me back," the agent quickly came up with the excuse, seeing from the corner of her eyes that the blond vampire raised a brow at her from the other corner of the room, knowing the actual truth. Her incredible ability to lie like that on the fly must have been news to her.

"Bella! Why didn't you tell me you were seeing someone?" Abby hopped up from the couch waddling over to her in her ridiculous platform shoes to hug her.

"Because I'm not. I was only asked out early afternoon today," she forced a tight smile on her face as she awkwardly returned the gesture.

"And who is the lucky guy?" the Goth girl pushed her for further details enthusiastically.

"No one of importance, I won't be seeing him anymore," Bella evaded with ease. "So what are you guys doing here?"

"Can't a friend just drop by to wish you happy birthday? Especially since you stood her up?" the forensic scientist frowned at her, clearly hurt.

"Sure, but a two-hour drive in the company car just for that is hardly warranted. What's going on?" the female agent inquired again, intent on not addressing her absence from plans she never agreed to in the first place.

"You tell us. We tried calling you on your cell, but it has been turned off. Funny finding out that you have another one," Tony jumped into the conversation, he rising from his place too, abandoning the drinks that were offered to them on the coffee table. Bourbon, huh. Damon was very hospitable it seemed, and they weren't planning on making the drive back to D.C. this evening.

"The battery must have died, I forgot to put it on the charger last night," the brunette shrugged it off. They found a way to track her down anyway what was the big deal. Gibbs's rules were seriously a pain in the ass sometimes.

"Right. Still doesn't explain why you have two," DiNozzo raised a brow at her accusatorially.  _Great… Caroline, couldn't you have called me inconspicuously?_  Not that she knew her private phone was supposed to have been sort of a secret.

"It helps to keep business separate from personal," she replied without missing a beat.  _I mean come on…_  it wasn't that unusual for people to have multiple communications devices. "How did you know you would find me here?"

"The nice lady at the motel suggested that if you had friends in town, this would be the place to check first," Abby answered this inquiry but glanced towards Tony for confirmation.

The vampire hybrid didn't know the innkeeper personally, how would she have any idea where she would be? It raised a giant red flag in her mind. But the only other plausible explanation was that the senior agent had followed her, possibly on their first day in town when she had come here with Jeremy. Surely he wouldn't have? What else might he have heard? She made a point of not showing any sign of her alarm on the outside.

"And while we waited, Damon was kind of enough entertain us with anecdotes. Nice fella."

 _Not_ _just anecdotes_ , Agent Swan guessed and briefly wondered just what exactly the older Salvatore had shared with her NCIS co-workers. It seemed she had a long talk ahead of her with the gang on proper secret keeping conduct.

"Yeah until he bares his fangs at you…" Bella muttered under her breath, too quietly for her colleagues to make out but the vampires in the room had to stifle their laughs, disguising them as coughs at the pun. "Sorry if I don't share that notion. He is a royal pain in the ass."

"I might be going out on a limb here, but he is the ex you mentioned some days ago?" he guessed nonchalantly and yet again the brunette had the sudden urge to compel the truth out of him in regards to how he knew the stuff he wasn't supposed to have a clue about.

"The very same," she confirmed, no point in denying once asked about it directly.

"Why are you staying at his place then?" Tony furrowed his brows in confusion. They must have asked someone about the place after all, if they knew this was the Salvatore Boarding House.

"Complicated."

This she wasn't about to explain.  _Hey, I'm here because this is the base of operations for the Scooby Gang and we have a couple of conniving thousand-year-old Originals in town thus we must stick together in order to find out what they want and possibly thwart their plans._  That would have gone over well… And he still hadn't revealed the point of their visit. Whatever they wanted must have required a security clearance.  _Great._

"Why are you guys stalling? What are you not telling me?"

"Can we talk privately somewhere?" Abby anxiously inquired, wringing her hands. The vampires were standing off by the fireplace feigning conversation among themselves, but she knew they were paying close attention this whole time.

"Sure. Let's just go up to my room," Bella beckoned them out of the room towards the stairs. "Don't come up and interrupt, unless I explicitly tell you to," she added quietly once her back was to the agent and forensic scientist, intended only for those with supernatural hearing. "I'll handle this."

 _No objections, huh_ , she noted when Tony and Abby followed without a word. Must not be that secret if merely a closed door was enough for them. Her room could be bugged for all they knew and what they couldn't even begin to guess at was that three people in the house would still be able to hear every word if they really wanted. And no doubt about it Damon was going to listen in even if no one else.

"You have your own room, huh. That was quick. You moving in permanently?" DiNozzo asked casually as they threaded up the stairs but the brunette could hear out the underlying tension.

"Tony, behave!" her Goth friend chided.

"What I meant was the room I'm using at the moment. I didn't realize you were going to get so technical with me," the female agent replied just as she opened the door to the second bedroom on the right, letting them go first then followed them inside.

"Well, excuse me if my patience is wearing a bit thin with your behavior ever since Mystic Falls was first mentioned. First, you dread the place, then now, you suddenly take off on leave and come back here without any explanation," Tony huffed agitatedly, running his hand through his hair. Abby sat down on the bed, looking between her co-workers warily.

"Why exactly do I owe you an explanation?" Bella inquired with a raised brow, leaning against the closed door behind her. DiNozzo seemed to freeze at the question, his eyes briefly wandering to her outfit. She looked down at herself too. Yeah, she was dressed up pretty, not something he usually saw. She had just come from a date. A date.  _Fuck._  So this is what this little hissy fit was about! "Don't tell me you are  _jealous_?"

His eyes widened impossibly at the accusation, then he averted his gaze quickly. Jackpot it seemed. At first, Bella was confused and at a loss as to what to say to that revelation. But then a plan started to formulate in her head. Maybe she didn't need to leave NCIS after all. That is if there weren't any unfixable hiccups in the Sheridan case.

"What did you guys need to tell me? I'm on leave and would like to get back to it quickly," the female agent faked being upset by Tony's silent admission, her voice cold and hard.

The Goth girl hesitantly glanced between them then decided to say what she had intended to discuss. "I was worried about you. Remember the syringe with the verbena residue?"

"Yes," she nodded. How could she not?

"Well, I had one of my buddies at the botanical gardens look into the alternative uses of the herb, and he found some very old folklore, from Mystic Falls actually – well it wasn't called that then but from this area – and supposedly it can ward off vampires. And then there was this weird substance in the petty officer's wounds that I couldn't identify for a while. It looked like DNA, but not really and had sections that resembled wolf DNA but had to be like a thousand years old if the computer was to be believed, some of these genetic markers are not present in the modern day population anymore. I chalked it up to sample contamination, but now I don't know. What if it's werewolf DNA or something? And this freaky case? What if Joey Bates really wasn't the killer but a vampire or werewolf or something? And you are here and possibly in danger, I just couldn't let it slide, so I convinced Tony to drive me down here with the excuse that I had to see you and tell happy birthday to you no matter what. Happy Birthday by the way," the forensic scientist ranted on nervously, gesticulating wildly with her hands as she explained, looking between her friends with concern, wondering if they thought she was crazy.

Bella didn't find those statements funny at all, especially since they hit the nail on the head exactly, but the image that Abby had just been unwittingly in a room with four vampires was rather amusing, especially since the Goth girl was so afraid of them.  _Ah, the irony._  So she used the emotion of that and chuckled, first trying to contain it, then went and laughed out loud, slumping down on the floor. Tony just regarded the scene in bewilderment, trying to figure out what to think of Abby's theories and his partner's reactions to them.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said after a minute, trying to catch her breath. "But that's ridiculous. Come on… vampires and werewolves? This is not an Anne Rice novel, but reality. Please tell me you hadn't said anything to Gibbs about this."

"No, I didn't," the forensic scientist girl shook her head. Perfect, Gibbs was probably hard or impossible to compel based on what a hard head he was. "You guys were the first."

"And did you actually go out and buy verbena to protect yourself from vampires before coming here?" the female agent got up from the floor finally, inquiring in a giggly, mocking tone.

"Uh, no, all the pharmacies that had verbena tea were already closed before we left," Abby shook her head again just as the brunette sat down on the bed beside her.

 _Good_ , Bella thought. But awfully stupid and careless. Let's just test that in case she was suspecting something and this was a trap. She turned towards her, looking deep into her eyes.

"Abby, you really need to go to the bathroom. Stay there until I call for you," the vampire hybrid told her friend. Innocent enough so that if it didn't work, she could just pass it off as a bad joke. Without a word she got up and went to the en-suite.

"What the…?" Tony gasped from the other corner of the room, glancing at her in disbelief then back at the brunette.

"DiNozzo," Bella quickly made her way to him after getting his attention, pupils dilating again. "Kiss me on the mouth," she commanded.

He did so promptly, and she slapped him hard – well hard for a human girl of her build – the outline of her hand already forming on his cheek. This wasn't strictly necessary since she could have just made him think that this is what happened, but it was much more believable this way. Especially since Gibbs would be able to see the end result tomorrow.

"You will forget about what Abby said regarding verbena, vampires, and werewolves. You guys simply came here to wish me happy birthday, then you made a pass at me while Abby was using the ladies room. I slapped you on the face for it. Tomorrow I'm going to call Gibbs to inform him. Now go downstairs and look ashamed until you wait for Abby."

The agent could hear the faint snickering from downstairs as the senior agent exited her room. Eavesdropping bunch, but she had to admit she was putting on quite a performance. On second thought. What if she was being played?

"Guys, make sure he is really compelled, alright?" she whispered just loudly enough for them to hear. Knowing Damon, testing would mean to take a bite of him to see if there was vervain in him, so she added another stipulation. "But be gentle."

"All clear," she heard Caroline's confirmation a minute later. The vampire hybrid had no idea what they had done, but she trusted the blonde enough to believe her.

"Abby!" Bella called out towards the bathroom, faking the distress in her voice.

"What happened?" Ms. Sciuto came running out of the en-suite. Instead of explaining normally, Bella yet again looked deep into her eyes.

"What is the name of the botanical guy who was advising you?" the agent inquired. Loose ends everywhere, seriously.

"Danny Brosch," the forensic scientist obediently replied.

"You will thank him for the help and jokingly pass this off on your superstitions, if he doesn't seem to believe you, give me a call with his address and I'll handle it. As for your findings. Verbena is nothing more than a medicinal herb like you originally suggested, there was nothing odd to be found out regarding the syringe. The saliva sample from the wound was most likely contaminated. Wolves do live in the Virginia woods, one must have come into town to feast on the body but was chased off before it could dig in. This evening you convinced Tony to take you here to wish me happy birthday. While you were in the bathroom he kissed me, I slapped him on the face. I'm distraught. I don't believe I can work with him after this. Tomorrow I will call Gibbs to discuss what options I have. Now go, have a good night and return to D.C. in the morning. Tell DiNozzo to drive safe given that he had a bit too much bourbon," Bella gave her full instructions to the Goth girl, watching her exit the room too.

Within a minute the opening and closing of the front door could be heard. An engine being turned on, car tires on asphalt, pulling away. And they were gone. The brunette felt really bad for doing this, but she didn't really have another choice. Before the nosy bunch could come and pester her, she locked her door and stripped off her clothes, wishing for a hot shower and sleep.

* * *

Avoiding the Caroline inquisition forever was impossible though. Her first question when Bella came downstairs for breakfast at 7 AM was about her date last night with Klaus. The brunette just glared at her from the fridge in her grey Snoopy themed T-shirt and matching shorts as pajamas. It was kind of ironic since she wasn't the one being snoopy. That good morning cup of coffee that her top suggested would be welcome about now though.

Still pointedly ignoring the question, she got the milk out and some cereal from the cupboards, poured the liquid caffeine out into a mug and sat down to try and enjoy her breakfast in quiet. An impossible wish.

"Just give me something, what did you guys do? Did he take you out to dinner? Did you guys kiss?" the vampire impatiently whined, leaning on the table with her elbows, throwing puppy dog eyes at her friend.

"No and no, and not telling," the agent grumbled, keeping her attention on the sustenance.

"Don't tell me you went all the way?!" Caroline inquired wide-eyed just as Bella was taking a sip of her coffee, making her sputter.

"Geez. What the fuck?" she exclaimed in a grouchy, disgruntled manner.

"Exactly that!" the blonde winked at her.

"Most definitely not," the vampire hybrid asserted, turning her attention back to her breakfast.

"Then just tell me, or I'll make up my own assumptions," Caroline pushed on, crossing her arms in front of herself.

"Fine. He cooked dinner, we drank wine and talked some. Then he showed me his paintings. Almost kissed me, but you interrupted him when you called. Happy?" she summarized the evening, muttering "not that it's any of your business" under her breath, knowing full well that she heard that too.

"And what does he want from you?" the blonde asked. Logical, though, since that was the sole purpose of the "mission." To find out what Klaus really wanted. She still wasn't sure she got all of it out of him.

"To take me to New Orleans with him." That much was certain from his words. The rest she planned on to negotiate further in one way or another.

"And are you?" the vampire quirked a brow.

"I'm not sure yet," Bella shrugged the question off. Depended on what she could work out with Gibbs. Not to mention she was still a bit wary whether the compulsion took hold or not. And then there was the meeting with Jasper.

"But you are considering?" Caroline insisted on an actual answer. In a way, it was adorable that they were so concerned with her wellbeing.

"Look. I'm not in the mood for this. There's a lot to take into account. But if that plan means that everyone will be kept safe then yes I'm considering," the agent affirmed, hoping that they wouldn't try and interfere.

"Was that performance with the NCIS guys in preparation for that?" she inquired curiously. It must have puzzled them greatly what the slap feast was for.

"Yes, I'll try and request to be transferred to the squad in New Orleans. I now have a good excuse for that," the brunette nodded. Finished with breakfast, she stood up to go to the sink and rinse the plate before putting it in the dishwasher.

"Wouldn't Tony be in trouble?"  _Why would you care?_  Unless she had the hots for him. Geez, wasn't Stefan enough?

"I'll tell my boss that I don't want any official repercussions to come from this, and to just handle this quietly," Bella revealed. He would probably get a few slaps on the head from the team leader, but that's all.

"Will that work?" the blonde wondered out loud.

"I don't know, but there is only one way to find out," the agent shrugged.

"What if Klaus wants to use you in some sinister plan?" Caroline made a face. Were they still intent that this was a baby making mission on his part for some world domination plan with an army of evil hybrid spawns?

"That's for me to worry about. I'll keep him out of your hair," she started to understand why Damon always acted alone. Getting your every move questioned was annoying as hell.

"Geez, you are so like Elena," Damon made his presence known. How long had he been listening in?

"I'll take that as a compliment, coming from you," Bella threw him a tight-lipped smile. "But if you guys will excuse me, I have another 170-year-old vampire to deal with."

"What did Stefan do?" the older Salvatore looked quizzically at her.

"Not Stefan. Sorry, I didn't phrase that correctly. Cold one. Jasper was turned during the Civil War too." There was no point in hiding that she was going to meet him.

"My CO in the Confederate army used to be Jasper too. Major Whitlock. Good four years younger than me but he had such charisma that he rose through the ranks in a matter of months. He went MIA in 1863, I deserted not too long after that," he reminisced until he noticed Bella's wry smile. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just a small world, that's all," she offered, whooshing out of the room before he could follow up.

"Hey, what did you mean by that?" Damon called after her with a frown. He hated when she was being so cryptic.

* * *

Bella deployed her super speed for getting ready too, immensely happy that she was back to blue jeans, white shirt, black boots and her deep red leather jacket. She kind of looked like the poster child of American patriotism, but she didn't mind.

On her run to Charlottesville, her cellphone went off. She slowed down and took a glance at the caller ID this time.

_Jacob Black._

"Hey, Jake. What's up?" she answered in surprise. She had given him the number for emergencies only since in her line of work it wouldn't have been prudent to have her cell ringing all the time. Even if she had it on mute. The slight distraction of feeling the electrical circuits activating on an incoming call could cost the life of one of her teammates if they were on an assignment.

"Just wanted to let you know that your leech was here, asking about you," the shapeshifter informed her, his voice full of hatred and contempt.

Good thing she never told him that she had become a vampire too. He firmly believed that she was merely a federal agent. Both he and her father were very proud of her for that, although they were quite concerned with her being around firearms. For one they thought she was still clumsy as hell and her emotional breakdown after the Cullens left had them thinking she might be suicidal. The second worry had dissipated over the years though.

More importantly what the hell was Edward doing in Forks?

"He is not my leech," Bella told him with a roll of her eye, trying very hard to keep herself nonchalant and sarcastic, instead of curling up in a fetal position on the leaves under her feet. "What did you tell him?"

"It was Charlie he had found, not me. Still banned from the reservation, remember? Your dad called me immediately after since he knows I can get in touch with you at any time. He hadn't said anything to him, but you know that around him that doesn't mean much. I'm pretty sure Cullen knows you are in D.C.," he explained.

"Then it's a good thing I'm not," Bella replied cheekily, a smirk playing on the corner of her lips.

"Where are you?" Jacob immediately asked.

"Sorry, secret mission, can't tell you." Just in case Edward does find a way to listen in on Jake, better he didn't know her location either.

"Now you are just pulling my leg," the shapeshifter huffed amusedly.

"Sort of. I'm on leave, attending to some business. But still secret. Thanks for the heads up," the agent laughed out. She missed this. Their banter. Her best friend.

"Just, take care of yourself alright?" his tone switched again. Longing. Worried. Infatuated. This was one of the reasons she had hightailed out of Forks. She knew Jacob was in love with her, but she just couldn't reciprocate. Still can't.

"Will do," Bella reassured him, then hung up the phone.

 _Sigh._  A peaceful life, huh. Definitely not in the cards for a while.


	13. A dozen phone calls

Taking advantage of the fact that she had stopped anyway, she dropped a call to the motel to check whether Tony and Abby had left already. Sure enough, that was the case. At least that problem seemed to be solved. For now if nothing else. The next call was to our favorite murderous psychopath.

"Who is this?" Klaus grumpily answered. He had never given his number to her, but she had ways of finding out. Perks of being a federal agent. She had searched the info while she was finishing her report on the case. Her caller ID was blocked though, so no wonder he was so crabby. Telemarketers used such methods usually.

"Good morning to you too," Bella answered in an overplayed sickly sweet tone.

"Bella, love," he murmured immediately, obviously pleased by the turn of events. "Dare I ask how you found out my number?"

"Try for a burner phone if you truly don't want to be found instead of having a contract with your service provider," she chuckled.  _Why the hell am I giving him advice on evading the law?_

"Duly noted," the original replied amusedly. "What do I owe this pleasure to?"

"NCIS has left. Hopefully, I have squashed any suspicions our forensic scientist might have had. So congratulations, you are off the hook." Her stomach twisted uncomfortably, now that the full weight of the outcome her compulsion actually meant dawned on her.

Yes, it was tampering with evidence. Yes, she had just helped a mass murderer evade the law. Not that he would have ever faced those charges, he could just flee, or compel his way out. Or worse, murder his way out. But her main agenda was keeping the supernatural hidden. Cognitive dissonance be damned, she had accomplished just that.

"Thank you, darling. That was fast work. I'm impressed," the werewolf hybrid praised in a fond tone.

"I didn't do it for you," Bella sighed. "Look, about what we discussed last night. I might be able to transfer to New Orleans, but I have some conditions. I won't be living with you, nor will I be seen in public with you. I will continue to do my job as an NCIS agent. I am not to be used in your schemes. You are to be fully honest with me regarding anything that you might be planning that involves me, and I have the right to refuse to participate. My friends and family are not bargaining chips. Keep NCIS and authorities in general away from finding any evidence of your activities. I'll not be covering your ass next time. Any failure to play by my rules, I'll disappear, and you won't be able to find me. Ever. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," he replied, not so elatedly anymore. He probably wasn't used to other people making the demands.

"Good. I'll let you know when I'm ready to move. Have a good day, Klaus." And with that, she hung up.

* * *

"Was that Isabella?" Elijah entered the room Niklaus was standing in, looking at his phone in disbelief.

"She prefers Bella," the younger Mikaelson corrected him as he flipped his phone around in his hand, deep in thought about something.

"Will she be joining us?" the original inquired, dressed impeccably as ever, even at this early hour.

"So it seems. Although not exactly how I imagined," Klaus furrowed his brows.

"The 'date' didn't go well I take it," his brother guessed with a knowing smile.

"Could have been worse," Nik shrugged, slinging his leather jacket over his shoulder in preparation for leaving. She could have fully refused him. But now at least she would be close to him, in the same city. In proximity to find out more about her. "You were right though."

"I usually am. Regarding what this time?" Elijah mused aloud mirthfully. Rarely did Klaus acknowledge his insights.

"The vervain. She is not on it," the werewolf hybrid affirmed contemplatively.

"And how did you manage to ascertain that piece of information? I wouldn't imagine Miss Swan divulging something like that easily," the older Mikaelson pointed out the obvious trust issues they were having.

"She hides her emotions well, but there was a hint of relief and elation in her eyes when she thought that I assumed this was the reason behind her resistance to my compulsion. Not to mention that I couldn't get into her mind even when touching her," Klaus elaborated on how he came to deduce the nature of Bella's secret.

"Interesting. A stronger mind than ours? Maybe a unique gift. A mental shield of some sorts?" Elijah theorized, suddenly becoming even more interested in the new hybrid.

"I still don't understand what's so special about her," Rebekah interrupted from the doorway, her arms crossed and a defiant pout on her lips.

"All in due time my dear sister, all in due time," he smirked at her, placing a hand on her shoulder as he passed by her. "Get everything ready for heading back to New Orleans."

He raised his cellphone to his ear to make a call of his own. The French Quarter Coven might be able to tell him something about this ability of hers.

* * *

_That was some gutsy move_ , Bella thought as she stared at her phone. Did she really just boss the original werewolf hybrid around? Anyway, it was time to put on another show to follow through with that plan. Time to call Gibbs. For this, she switched her work phone back on.

"What is it, Swan?" her boss picked up on the second ring.

"Hey, Boss, were you aware that Abby and DiNozzo drove down to Mystic Falls last night?" the female agent tentatively began.

"No, but that explains why they aren't in yet," Jethro huffed in his usual gruff manner.

Bella checked the time on her phone, it was 9:01. Being a few minutes late wasn't that much of a deal usually, they should have been arriving any minute now if the lady at the inn's reception was to be believed that they left at 7 AM.

"Yeah, it seems Abby just couldn't bear not having a toast with me on my birthday," Bella nervously laughed, all part of the act. "But that's not why I'm calling. It's about DiNozzo."

"I'm listening," he said impatiently after a few moments of silence that she deliberately allowed for tension building and to establish her hesitancy at saying what she was about to say.

"I think it wouldn't be prudent for us to work on the same team anymore," the brunette stated with regret in her voice. "I'd like to request a transfer for myself. Preferably to New Orleans if that can be arranged."

"What did DiNozzo do?" Gibbs asked immediately. That made her raise her brow. So he  _had_  noticed that Tony had feelings for her. Even better. This should be easy then.

"Look, I don't want to cause trouble for him. It's just my personal code and one of your rules too to not date co-workers. After last night, I think it would be a bit awkward in the off," she deliberately backpedaled.

"Don't make me ask again, what did he do?" the team leader pushed on in a non-negotiable manner.

"He kissed me, I slapped him on the face for it. But in his defense, he did have a few drinks with my ex before that, so I'm not sure he was totally in control," Bella came out with it after a sigh. She felt as if she was talking to her father. Now she feared a bit for what might be coming for DiNozzo. Fathers rarely left matters alone if they believed their daughters were violated in some way.

Heavy exhale on the other end of the line. "I'll see what I can do about your transfer."

"Thank you, and seriously I don't want to cause any problems for Tony," the female agent reasserted. Right then, in the background on the other end of the line, the elevator chime could be heard indicating that it arrived on the floor where Gibbs was, probably the bullpen based on the general chatter and noise.

"I'll get back to you. Keep your damned phone on this time," the pepper-haired man warned her, clearly wanting to hang up, probably to deal with Tony who must have entered.

"Sure, Boss, sorry. The battery died on me yesterday," she reiterated that lame excuse apologetically before he hung up on her.

* * *

"DiNozzo! With me," Jethro roared in that tone of his that was intimidating even though he wasn't shouting.

McGee just watched in wide-eyed surprise, having no idea what the boss's problem might be. But it must have been bad. And the still somewhat red patch on Tony's cheek didn't evade his attention either.

Gibbs led the senior field agent back to the elevator and pushed for the basement where Abby's lab was located, then stopped the elevator between floors. He stared intently at Tony. Classic Gibbs move.

"I take it Bella had called already," the usually easygoing agent flinched guiltily. There was no point in trying to hide the events of last night, however embarrassing they were.

"Damn sure she did. What were you thinking?" the team leader slapped him across the back of his head.

"Clearly, I wasn't," Tony rubbed the spot. It was a harder hit than usual.

"I warned you," Gibbs reminded him.

"Yes, you did Boss. I have no excuses," he sighed, taking full responsibility for his actions.

"Excuses for what? Tell me in your own words what happened," Jethro requested. Important to have both sides of the story.

"I drank a bit too much, kissed her on the mouth, got slapped really hard for making a move on her," the senior field agent admitted.

"Consider yourself lucky that she doesn't want to file an official complaint for sexual harassment in the workplace," his boss huffed angrily. HR would have had a field day with that. This was so not like the DiNozzo he knew. Or maybe yes. The undercover business with Jeanne Benoit was clearly blurring the lines. And he was a massive flirt with most female agents, Ziva especially. And look where that ended up.

"She doesn't?" DiNozzo snapped his head up in surprise. He thought his career was honestly done for.

"No, but because of you, I'm still one good agent down in the team," Gibbs pushed the emergency stop again and let the elevator descend. Once on the lab's floor, he spoke again.

"Go back upstairs and do your work quietly until I sort this out," he ordered. There was no use further discussing the matter.

Tony complied without any other words. The team leader entered Abby's lab. Time to ask the one possible witness.

"Gibbs, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked Tony to take me to Mystic Falls," the forensic scientist started off, clearly distraught that her actions had such consequences.

"Not your fault, Abbs. What happened?" Jethro inquired in a softer tone.

"I didn't actually see it, I went to the bathroom then came rushing out when Bella called, clearly shaken up, but Tony was already gone," the Goth girl shook her head.

He said, she said situation then, but since they were saying the same thing there was nothing he could do about it.

"Any progress on our mystery samples?" he asked instead.

"Yes… no… there's nothing Danny could tell me about verbena that I couldn't find out on my own. The DNA evidence is contaminated too, there's nothing I can do with that. If I had to guess at what happened, a wolf wandered into town and slobbered around the corpse, but was chased off before it could munch on the remains," she admitted, ashamed again at her failure to deliver answers.

"It's alright, Abby. You tried. Good work," the case was officially closed anyway, but he wasn't the kind to let loose ends untied.

Now he had a trip to the director's office to try and sell Swan's transfer without implicating DiNozzo. But first, a call to Dwayne to see if he had any objections to a new addition to his team.

"Jethro!" Agent Pride picked up almost immediately. "What's up?"

"King, I have a favor to ask," Gibbs began in a serious tone as he got back into the elevator.

"Uh-huh. I don't like the sound of that," Dwayne picked up on the mood immediately, despite the fact that Jethro was always brusque in manner, no matter his mood.

"Wondering if you are ready for a new addition to your team?" his friend got the main topic immediately. He wasn't known for small talk, that's for sure.

"Who are we talking about exactly?" the New Orleans team leader inquired before agreeing to anything.

"Bella Swan," Jethro told him the name.

"Isn't she on your team?" Pride confusedly wondered. She was relatively new to NCIS, so they hadn't had the chance to personally meet yet, only through the MTAC video feed.

"She is," he confirmed.

"Then why are you transferring her?" Dwayne's bafflement was growing by the minute.

"Conflict of interest," Gibbs replied cryptically. He trusted his buddy – that wasn't the problem – but he wanted to give Swan a clean slate if she was going to start fresh, and since there wouldn't be anything official on either her or DiNozzo's file why potentially play into the rumor mill by revealing their encounter. Even the walls had ears around here.

"Is she going to be a problem case?" the Supervisory Special Agent was hard to fool though, so he guessed that there was something more going on in the background. Except he thought it was work related.

"Not at all. One of the best agents I had worked with. Focused. Efficient. A miracle worker really," he never said such praises to her face, but they were all true. She had one of the best solved case ratio in the agency.

"Why are you getting rid of her then?" Fair question, and if it were up to him he wouldn't have let go of the girl that's for sure.

"Her choice, not mine," Jethro curtly replied.

"You are not going to tell me more, are you?" Agent Pride sighed on the other end of the line.

"No," Jethro shook his head even though he knew his friend couldn't see it.

"Director knows already?" Dwayne asked after another sigh, giving up on getting more information.

"On my way there, just wanted to clear it with you first," the Major Case Response Team leader revealed. This was more of a courtesy call. If Vance issued the order, New Orleans would have to take her anyway.

"Alright. Fine with me. Brody could use a bit more of female company anyway," Pride conceded after a few moments.

"I owe you one," Gibbs told him a friendlier tone as he got off on the bullpen floor. Both McGee and DiNozzo looked up at him curiously as he headed for the stairs leading up to the director's office.

"Yeah, yeah. Consider us even. I'm sure you had a couple of favors to call in with me anyway," he laughed before hanging up.

The pepper-haired man strutted into the outer office, where Vance's assistant was sitting, gesturing to the door to inquire if the director was free at the moment. She motioned for him to go right in.

Leon was on the phone and held up a finger for him to wait a second.

"No, I told you to clear it with SecNav first. Get back to me afterward. Bye," the director told whoever was on the other end sternly before hanging up. "Gibbs. What can I do for you?"

"I need a transfer order for Agent Swan to New Orleans," he broached the subject right away.

"What going on here?" Vance furrowed his brows. In the last few years she had been an exemplary agent, but in the span of one week, she had asked for an extended leave and now a transfer too?

"Personal reasons," was all the team leader said.

"The same ones that had her taking a week off?" the director inquired with a raised brow.

"Yes," Gibbs lied. Great excuse, handed to him on a silver platter.

If he remembered correctly, there was something about a friend of hers having died in recent years. But it also made him wonder whether they were really somehow connected. She did go back to the town of their crime scene and even though she had lived there previously his sixth sense was telling him that something fishy was going on here. More importantly, why did DiNozzo and Abby make the drive down there? Birthday wishes so urgent? Her being unreachable? Something wasn't adding up.

"Pride's aware?" Vance asked after a few seconds of deliberation.

"Just called him. He has no problems with it," Jethro smirked knowingly, snapping out of his thoughts. It's all about the connections.

"Fine. Consider it done. Starting next Monday after her leave is fine with her?" Leon queried for the details so that he could prepare said orders.

"I'm sure that's fine," the team leader shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He hadn't asked her previously but a week should be enough to arrange the move.

"Sorry to see her go," Vance gruffly commented.

"Well, at least she isn't leaving the agency," Gibbs reposed as he made his way towards the door.

"Lucky us," the director laughed out, already typing the instructions to his assistant for the paperwork to be prepared for him to sign.

The team leader jogged down to his team with haste, going up to McGee's desk.

"Get me everything. Absolutely everything you can get on Swan. Also track her phone now. Do it quietly, and only report to me," he instructed in a whisper, making sure that Tony couldn't hear them. He was already too involved in whatever was going on.

"Sure, Boss," Tim replied, having learned long ago not to ask questions. Many things were strictly on a need to know basis at NCIS, and if Gibbs deemed it necessary, he would have given further explanations.

Jethro wasn't sure what Bella got herself into but sure as hell he wasn't going to leave her behind, even if she didn't ask for help. For now, it was reconnaissance time. And to call her about her orders.

* * *

Meanwhile, Bella decided to give a call to her dad too, to make sure he was okay, and maybe get some further details on his visitor. He was surely pissed as hell in her stead, even after all these years. And it was about time for some family talk anyway, it's been a good three months since she last called.

"Chief Swan," he picked the phone up brusquely.

The vampire hated that she couldn't give her private number to him, but knowing Renée, she would bully it out of him the first chance she got if she learned that he knew and the agent really couldn't afford to have her constantly calling her. Her mother had a strange idea about the meaning of "emergencies."

"Hey, Dad…" she began, suddenly feeling like a teenager again.

"Bells! I assume Jake has gotten hold of you already..." the police chief of Forks went from elated at hearing his daughter's voice to humorless in a fraction of a second.

"Yeah, he told me. You are not getting yourself too worked up, are you? You know you gotta watch your blood pressure," Bella teased in an attempt to lighten her own mood too.

"That bastard has some balls asking about you after six years of radio silence," Charlie remarked with a grunt.

"Yeah about that. What did he want?" she inquired. Details were crucial. Not that Charlie would be able to tell her anything about why he was asking about her now. Too perfectly timed to be a coincidence.

"He came to the station early this morning. Wanted to know if you were still living in town. Apparently, he had tried the house, but since neither you nor your truck was there, he wasn't sure. I told him you moved away long ago."

Surely Edward could tell even from the outside that her scent had been gone from the place for years.

"He asked to where. Said it was none of his business and to get lost," Chief Swan told her with a laugh. He must have been pleased with himself at the way he handled it. Bella could just imagine the intense urge he must have felt to pull his gun on him.

"Thanks, Dad," the vampire smiled too, despite the fact that no doubt her dad must have been thinking about D.C. when he told Edward off.

But her place of employment might have been hidden still so it would take him a long time to figure out that she had moved on from there to New Orleans. She was on a tight schedule though. A flight from Seattle could take him to D.C. in about five hours. Maybe another to catch her scent in town. Would he even recognize her new scent? How much did vampirism mask of that? Was he aware? Probably not. But fortunately, that would have to wait till nightfall on his side, since it was currently sunny in this part of the States, while she wasn't restricted in such ways. Who knew, he might not be able to risk the airport at Seattle either. She didn't know what kind of weather they were having up there.

"No problem, kiddo. He also asked if you visited often. I told him the truth," he revealed with a bit of sadness etched in his voice.

"I'm sorry. I know you would love to see and hear from me more, but the job is…" the agent began to apologize and explain, but she was cut off.

"Believe me, I understand. Don't stress about it," her dad waved off her concerns. He was a workaholic too, but that was more due to the fact that he never got over Renée.

"Did he say if they were moving back?" Bella inquired further.

"Why?" Charlie warily asked.

"Don't worry I'm not going to come looking for him and running back into his arms. I just need to know so that I could avoid him," the girl chuckled amusedly at his fatherly protectiveness, despite the tightness in her chest. His worries weren't that farfetched.  _No_ , she told herself firmly. She had decided this already. The knowledge of his whereabouts shouldn't matter. And besides, there was practically no chance of this happening. They looked too young and too little time had passed.

"I asked whether Dr. Cullen would be gracing our hospital again and it was a definite no," the chief revealed after a second as he relaxed that his daughter wouldn't be making the mistake of taking someone back who had mistreated her so badly.

"Okay, thanks. Sorry, but I really need to get going," the agent cut the conversation short. She had another Cullen to attend to at the moment.

"Alright. Try to call your old man a bit more often, will ya?" he requested with a laugh, but Bella could tell that he really missed her.

"I'll try. Love you," she replied without promising anything.

"Love you too," her dad repeated then hung up the phone.

She pondered briefly on calling Renée but decided she didn't have time for that, especially since her mom would insist on an hour-long phone call once they started.

Just out of precaution she continued on running at a pace that could be mistaken for a crossover car on the terrain. Call it paranoia, but she knew Gibbs was hard to fool and things had been going too smoothly.

And speaking of the devil, her work phone started to ring.  _Jethro Gibbs._

"Hey, Boss!" she picked up after stopping again because there wasn't an engine noise to match the swishing of the wind caused by her speed.

"Next Monday report to Agent Pride in New Orleans," he relayed her orders to her.

"Great, thank you again," Bella sighed in relief.

"Where are you by the way?" Gibbs asked nonchalantly, but that put the vampire on high alert instantly. Unbeknownst to her McGee was triangulating the call.

"Just west of Charlottesville. A few friends of mine wanted to hike around the reservoir. Why?" the vampire replied with the truth – sort of – just to play it safe.

She was almost at the site where she had agreed to meet Jasper anyway. She couldn't hear him yet, but he might as well have since talking was a lot louder than just standing in one place.

"Just didn't sound like a city," the team leader told her.

_The ambient sounds of birds and the wind might have been a giveaway_ , Bella agreed inwardly. Still, it was weird that the older agent would inquire about things like this. He usually respected her privacy.

"No, it's not," she affirmed. Her paranoia didn't seem so unjustified anymore. She tried to listen for indications that he might have suspected something about her, but he was very calm. In the background, the only thing she could hear was nondescript chatter and keyboard typing. Nothing out of place.

"Anyway try to get some rest on your time off before reporting for duty," Jethro said finally when on the screen his agent's location popped up, and it was right where she said she would be.

"Sure thing, Boss," Bella complied with his wishes in words, but she knew that there were a lot more things to take care of. Rest was not in the cards for her for a while.

"Not your boss anymore." And with that, he hung up.

* * *

McGee regarded his boss tentatively after the phone call. He still didn't know why he had to stalk his own teammate, not to mention that New Orleans was mentioned and Gibbs clearly told her that he wasn't her boss anymore.

"Is Bella transferring?" Tim asked, risking the question even if it meant a head slap or scolding.

"Yes, it should be official in a few days," the team leader affirmed as he made his way back to his desk. "Keep doing your task."

The computer whiz agent instinctively glanced towards Tony who had his eyes trained intently on his screen, as if sensing that somehow this sudden team rearrangement was due to him, but no one said anything to confirm or deny his suspicions. McGee returned to the job at hand with a sigh and continued to dig every possible thing about his co-worker up.

* * *

Bella's face was still in a scowl two minutes after the end of that call with Gibbs. Something didn't feel right. And she couldn't risk having her phone off anymore, especially not removing the battery as she did earlier so that she couldn't be spied on.

The agent decided to stash her phone in a hollow tree a hundred yards from the shore of the reservoir. If it rang she would still be able to hear it, but it was far away enough that no conversation should be picked up by the microphone if it was turned on remotely. Who knew what topics would be touched on with Jasper? On second thought she turned the ringtone to music on her other phone too and left it at the same site. Just in case. Tony and Abby were aware that she had a second phone even if they didn't know the number. Should have erased that knowledge too, but too late for that now.

The agent walked the rest of the distance at normal speed, keeping a lookout for the Texan cold one. She heard rapid footsteps from her right, and suddenly something crashed into her at full speed, hugging her tightly around the neck.

"Finally you are here, Bella!" a delighted high-pitched female voice exclaimed, chiming like a hundred little bells.

_Of all the things, what was Alice Cullen doing here?_


	14. Tipping point

The female agent was startled out of her mind until she noticed Jasper looking apologetically at her from just a few yards away. Clearly, the clingy seer must have been aware that Bella was changed because the chokehold she called a hug would have crushed her windpipe by now if the brunette weren't a vampire.

"Alice, what are you doing here?" Bella asked finally in a forced calm tone. She felt betrayed and confused, and definitely not in the mood for close personal contact. They were supposed to have been best friends, yet the pixie-like girl left six years ago without a word and now was here acting like it had been mere days.

"I caught the red-eye from Syracuse when I saw Jasper meeting you, had to make sure you were really you. I haven't seen your decisions for so long, I thought you were dead," her voice sounded like she was sobbing, despite the fact the agent knew cold ones couldn't cry. Not really. And the tiny girl was still not releasing her. But that was an interesting piece of information.

Not their place of residence, although she groaned internally in frustration, having expressively stated that she didn't want to know.

"When was the last time you saw my decisions?" the hybrid inquired coolly, standing like a frigid statue until finally, Alice got the message that her embrace was not welcome. So much rode on this answer, Bella's mind was reeling. The tiny cold one looked at her hesitantly as she recalled the exact time.

"I think it was mid-January, almost five years ago. You were here in that town just southwest of us then too," she replied, taking a step back, trying to gauge her best friend's reaction.

"That was right before my transition then," the brunette noted with a faraway look in her eyes.

She should have guessed this much based on the fact that Jasper had no clue about her. Alice would have told him – even if no one else – if she had seen that outcome. But how could she have seen it? It was Damon's decision, not hers and Alice had never met him, nor was in anyway attuned to his future. For all Bella knew maybe all vampires were immune to the Cullen girl's powers. This revelation lessened her resentment some, but just barely. The brunt of her suffering came before that point in her life.

"Jasper said you were a vampire," the psychic stated with tentative curiosity. Her mate had joined them now, standing close to Alice.

"I am," Bella confirmed, still distancing herself from her emotions that threatened to bubble up with every passing second as she stood there. Jasper must have been aware of her inner fight because he tried quieting the pixie-like girl's incessant nature by calmingly placing a hand on her shoulder.

"But you are nothing like us! Although admittedly you don't smell like food anymore," Alice dubiously pointed out, crinkling her nose. It must have sucked to be the one out of the loop for once. But the agent couldn't get herself to sympathize.

"Yes, because you are what we call cold ones. Different species. But what I haven't yet told Jasper is that I am also like you guys in some ways, because of this," the hybrid detachedly showed her scar to them. Proof of their many failings at protecting her.

Even if it had been her choice – although admittedly a foolish one – to ditch them at the Phoenix Airport when she thought James had her mother, she never would have been put in the position to make such choices if she hadn't met Edward. Or if he hadn't brought her along to watch his family play their version of baseball in the thunderstorm when the nomad coven of three had been so close to town. So many little points in time where her fate was ultimately decided. Back then she wouldn't have minded dying in his stead if it meant to protect him, his family, her family, everyone. And look at how that notion was repaid to her…

Alice visibly flinched back at the memory but didn't comment on it further.

"I should be able to see you then. I have no problem seeing our kind," she quietly remarked with the creasing of her brows.

"Alice," the agent authoritatively called her attention back to herself. "Jasper can't affect me anymore either. If my assumption is correct, I'm immune to anything working through the mind. My emotions – even if there is a biological component to them – and decisions are definitely part of my mind. Just like my thoughts. That's why…" she paused, unable to say his name out loud. "He couldn't read them even when I was human. It has evolved, I think."

"She's a shield," Jasper amended, and that seemed to clear everything up for Alice. Bella had heard that term used by the gang too, but she had no idea it held any significance in general. But she had more significant problems to think about now, so instead she began a different line of questioning.

"Have you told anyone else that you are coming to see me?" Bella inquired with a sigh.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. Rosalie was in the room when I had the vision, and I cried your name out before I saw that Jasper agreed to keep it secret for now. I tried to divert her by saying that I was coming to meet Jasper early, but she didn't buy it. She called Edward the minute I left the house. He has been calling my cell non-stop ever since, but I'm not picking it up. It's driving him crazy," the psychic explained apologetically. She had a pretty good idea why this was bothering the brunette. Edward started asking around her family since he couldn't get the information out of Alice.

"Right, because ruining my life once wasn't enough for her," the hybrid muttered sarcastically. Meddling bunch, all of them, everyone in her life, past and present. Rosalie had it out for her from the day they had met. Of course, you could count on her to set things in motion that Bella specifically wanted to avoid.

"It isn't like that, Bella," Alice cried out, taking a step forward but the agent backed away instantly. The Cullen family had been broken up and distraught over Edward's decision ever since. Even Rosalie missed having the human around, although she would never admit that aloud to anyone.

"You mean to tell me that you thought that leaving me all alone in Forks without protection was in my best interest because of a little accident?"

Jasper winced at the memory as she scathingly ranted on, while Alice cast her eyes on the ground. Her reaction had Bella puzzled a bit. Then she recalled Edward's words regarding her supposed friend:  _She wanted to say goodbye, but I convinced her that a clean break would be better for you._

"I'm not sure what he…" the brunette almost choked on the words. She really had to get over this silliness. It's been years, long-long years. He shouldn't be affecting her so after all this time. "Not sure what Edward told you but I never wanted you to leave, much less a clean break. I wasn't angry with any of you for what happened at my birthday. It was my fault, I was clumsy, should have been more careful, or let you open the gifts for me."

"You shouldn't have to take precautions like that," her tiny voice was full of regret.

"Yeah, Edward said something similar too in the days before he left me in the woods behind our house too," Bella chuckled darkly. She wondered briefly if Edward ever told them about that. Or maybe Alice saw that too in a vision but never intervened. "I tried to follow him, you know. I tried calling out for him frantically. I got lost in the forest and almost died. Charlie had to send a search and rescue team for me! For months I lived like a freaking vegetable because I was so emotionally distraught that I couldn't bear to feel anything."

His words rang loud and clear in her head once again.

_Bella, I don't want you to come with me._

_I'm… tired of pretending to be something I'm not, Bella. I am not human._

_You're not good for me, Bella._

Then he had the gall to make her promise to not do anything reckless or stupid. For Charlie's sake. Yeah, right! She could have gone motorcycle riding with Jake, cliff diving even, but she always refused due to this silly commitment she made to someone who had broken all promises made to her. Even his last:  _I promise that this will be the last time you'll see me. I won't come back. I won't put you through anything like this again. You can go on with your life without any more interference from me. It will be as if I'd never existed._  As if his existence could have been erased from her memory. Yet he was in Forks asking about her that very moment.

"I'm sorry, I never wanted you to go through all that," Alice looked at her with pleading eyes, begging for Bella to believe her.

One of Gibbs's many rules came to the agent's mind, almost making her laugh out loud:  _Never accept an apology from someone who just sucker punched you._  It was debatable whether it applied to the situation given that the events weren't exactly recent. They still felt like they were. In any case, it was Edward who did the proverbial punching. Alice just did nothing to stop it.

"Then where the hell were you? Surely you saw my suffering. Why didn't you do something if you consider yourself my friend?" she accused, and the shame was clearly written on Alice's face. She had seen her depression and done nothing. "Or when Laurent tried to kill me in the meadow as a favor to Victoria…"

"Wait! What? When did that happen? I never saw anything!" the psychic exclaimed suddenly.

"Only to be saved by giant wolves! Who turned out to be the Quileutes. Not werewolves by the way as you probably think, but shapeshifters…" the hybrid pondered for a moment if she was supposed to keep that a secret and if she was breaking the treaty between the Cullens and the tribe.

Alice didn't seem to be paying attention anymore, probably trying to conjure a vision about them.

"I can't see them. At all. The wolves on the reservation," she told Jasper frantically. "Not even through the decisions of others like with Bella, they are a total blind spot."

"What about Victoria when she tried attacking me here in Mystic Falls right before I became a vampire?" Bella inquired mockingly, well past the point of trying to behave and rein her temper in.

"We were aware of her trying to make a move. Edward had been tracking her on foot, but she was really good at getting away. Her decisions were so erratic and spur of the moment that I was always too late to see where she would be next. Then I saw her finally getting destroyed in this area, but I presumed that she got to you before that because I never saw you again in a vision and knew you had been here too," the psychic cold one explained, going into more detail than necessary in an attempt to appease her almost-would-be-sister-in-law. They had failed her in more ways than one, but they had tried to keep her safe even if that wasn't obvious at first.

"You could have come and investigated."  _And you would have found that a really annoying douche of a vampire had destroyed Victoria but not before changing me, deeming it too dangerous for me to stay human. Something you probably should have done the moment James arrived on the scene,_  she muttered on inwardly.

"You are right. We should have," Alice agreed somberly. She was usually hyper and energetic, but at the moment she wanted to make herself even smaller than she already was.

"Obviously, Edward had really moved on if even my presumed death didn't move him enough to check," Bella remarked sullenly. For the longest time and against all the odds she kept nurturing that small sliver of hope that he might come around. But that had died away a couple of years after her transformation too.

"Actually… he is under the impression that you are alive and well," the tiny girl shifted from foot to foot, distinctly uncomfortable with the situation.

"How's that possible? He doesn't get into your head anymore?" the agent dubiously inquired, her voice creeping an octave higher.

"He hasn't lived with us since our departure from Forks. He sometimes calls me to check if I saw anything. And for the past five years, I had been lying to him that you were fine."

What Alice omitted to tell was that she knew that in the event of Bella's death Edward would have gone to the Volturi to get himself killed, putting a whole different spin on assisted suicide. She had seen him plan it out in about a thousand ways.

"Why the fuck would he check in about me? He told me he didn't want me," Bella roared in outrage. The whole thing just didn't make sense.

"That was a lie, Bella. He never stopped loving you."

And that was the understatement of the century in Alice's opinion. Edward had been a nervous wreck ever since leaving Forks, barely able to function, let alone be around his family and act like a normal person with emotions other than utter devastation.

_Of course, I'll always love you… in a way._  His words rang in her ear again. What was that supposed to mean? Bella had the sudden urge to punch someone… or something… really hard. So she did so. The young oak tree she had been standing next to shattered to splinters on impact. Good thing they couldn't penetrate her skin. She would have been in massive pain now if that weren't the case.

"Do you realize how fucked up this is?" she hissed through her teeth. Lies, lies and more lies, and deceit. What was the truth really? Actions spoke louder than words, and at the moment she didn't believe any of it.

"Trust me I do. I tried telling him that this was a bad idea. You know how stubborn he can be…" Alice agreed without hesitation.

"Like about my soul getting lost if he made me into a vampire? That I would be damned for eternity? Well, guess what? I became a vampire anyway! Not that I wanted to be one after he left! But who cares, right? Because no one ever asks Bella what she actually wants, just up and decides it for her!" Bella was beside herself with fury, letting all her pent-up frustrations air out.

"Bella…" Jasper murmured to her calmingly. He couldn't affect her but feeling her intense emotions bothered him, making him uncomfortable.

"No, I'm not going to calm down! I've had enough. I'd like you both to leave. And stay away from me," the agent stated. Just then the Cullen girl's phone started to ring, and both of them would have bet anything that it was Edward. "You can pass that message on to him too," she spat with venom in her tone and turned away from her former would-be-family to head back to Mystic Falls.

"Bella…" Alice took a tentative step towards her again, pleading for her to stay and work it out with them, but the brunette was having none of it.

"No, Alice, you don't get to sway me. You lost that right when you abandoned me," Bella stated with finality and began running.

When she reached the tree she had hidden her phones in, the psychic cold one caught up to her, and the hybrid reacted on instinct, whirling around and with practiced ease throwing Alice over her shoulder, pinning her to the ground with her arms behind her back. A move she learned at the police academy to detain arrestees.

"Don't ever sneak up on me again," the agent menacingly snarled in her ear as the other girl struggled in her hold, finding that she couldn't even budge her an inch. Jasper caught up to them and growled at Bella threateningly when he discovered his love among the dirt and leaves.

Bella let go before he could attack her, snatched her phones and took off again. She could hear from the distance that Alice finally picked up her phone that was still ringing. Well, the brunette's former love was nothing if not persistent.

"Edward," she sighed into the receiver, her voice shaking with fear. Without precognition, she really was a lousy fighter, and Bella had more skill than she had ever imagined. The psychic was still sitting on the ground, Jasper huddled in a crouch by her side trying to comfort her.

_"_ _Why haven't you been answering my calls, Alice?"_  Bella could hear Edward's impatient, clipped tone on the other end of the line.

"I was bound by a promise to not say anything," the tiny girl cryptically replied, glancing up at Jasper.  _What a mess really!_

_"_ _Rosalie said you had a vision about Bella. What happened? Where are you?"_  he inquired fervently, only now catching onto the slightly distressed tone in Alice's voice, but attributed it to the entirely wrong reasons.

"In Charlottesville with Jasper. And you are in Forks even though you expressly promised Bella to never bother her again," the psychic chastised, guessing – correctly – that word had gotten back to Bella about Edward's questions, and that was partially the reason for her foul mood.

_"_ _Since my dear sister decided not to return my calls I had no choice but to go seek answers on my own,"_  Edward muttered sardonically.  _"Why are you in Charlottesville? I thought Bella was in Washington, D.C. At least Charlie thinks so. Why didn't you tell me that she decided to become a police officer then was recruited by a federal agency? Can you imagine the danger she is in every day because of her job?"_  he accused, quite angry that he wasn't informed earlier about these developments in his lover's life. Just thinking about his hopelessly clumsy Bella – who couldn't walk even on a smooth surface without tripping herself up – with a gun in her hand, chasing criminals, made him shudder.

Hoping very much that she was far away enough that her very silent footsteps had gotten out of hearing range the agent stopped to listen to their conversation. She could barely make out Edward's side now.

"Well, that explains a lot," Alice huffed, recognizing the maneuver Bella had used on her earlier as something she would have learned at a law enforcement academy.

_"_ _What's that supposed to mean? Is Bella alright? Was she hurt on duty?"_  the mind reader asked frantically, cursing inwardly that they were separated by most of the continental US and he couldn't just hear Alice's thoughts that held the answers he was seeking, and which she seemed so reluctant to be giving him at the moment.

"Edward. Calm down," the pixie-like girl snorted at the ridiculousness of those questions. With a sigh, she told him the truth. "I haven't been completely honest with you. I haven't actually seen her in a vision for almost five years. Bella… well… she isn't human anymore. But she is not in any danger though. I was just with her."

_"_ _What do you mean she isn't human?"_  Edward warily asked after a moment. On the one hand, he was horrified of the implications. This was the very thing he wanted to avoid. He had wished for her to live out a happy, peaceful,  _human_  life, without his dangerous influence. On the other hand, maybe this meant that they could be reunited and his selfish side wanted nothing more than that.

"Almost five years ago she was turned into a vampire. A different kind from ours," Alice informed him.

_"_ _And why haven't you told me this before?"_  he snapped at her furiously. So much time had passed already, which he had spent suffering.

"Because I haven't seen it, and actually haven't seen Bella in a vision since then. She is immune to me as it turns out," the psychic indignantly retorted, not appreciating the accusation nor wanting to take on the blame for her brother's misery.

_"_ _So in the past five years, you had been lying to me."_

Edward decided to go to Charlottesville and investigate, which Alice saw instantly and responded to him.

"She is not here anymore." At least she assumed she wasn't, or won't be very shortly, but had no idea where Bella was headed. Probably back to Mystic Falls. If Alice had to guess she wouldn't be sticking around for long there either. "And you know the reason why I didn't tell you about my suspicions that she might be dead. I didn't want you to go to the Volturi."

_"_ _Bye, Alice,"_  the copper-haired boy coldly bid his farewell to his sister. He had been planning to go to Washington, D.C. to check on her anyway, but this gave him all the more reason to do so. If she wasn't in Charlottesville anymore, that would be next best place to start looking for clues again. Before he could hang up Alice started speaking again.

"She specifically asked to be left alone, Edward," she sternly cautioned him. "And I think you should heed her warning. Bella is much stronger than any of us. I have never been so afraid in my life before."

_"_ _Go home, Alice. This isn't your concern anymore,"_  he said dispassionately then hung up.

Bella stood motionlessly for another few seconds after having listened to that exchange before heading back to Mystic Falls at a moderate speed, still wary of Gibbs tracking her phone.

That was a lot to take in. Edward would have gone to the Volturi, most likely to get himself killed, in the event of her death. He knew that she lived in Washington, D.C., and no doubt was on his way there. She had anticipated that much, which still meant a tight schedule but not impossible. A bit more time than she had initially thought since he was still in Forks.

She could be back in D.C. in about two hours. Another one for packing up her apartment and canceling her lease. Taking a flight to New Orleans and having her stuff shipped there was out of the question. She didn't want to make Edward's job easier by leaving her scent trail at the airport. She could probably fit most of her belongings on the back of her truck. The drive must be like fifteen hours or so, but with her way of driving she could probably cut it down to ten or twelve. Finding a permanent place in New Orleans was the trickier part, but she could stay in a hotel till then.

By the time she arrived at the Salvatore Boarding House she already had her whole plan worked out in her head. Now she just had to shake the Scooby gang's attempts at trying to butt in.

* * *

"Soooo… Bella," Damon greeted her the minute she set foot through the front door. "About this small world. I was thinking. It would be funny if your Jasper and my Jasper were one and the same, don't you think?"

The agent froze for a second. Right. Before  _Deus ex Alice_  appeared on the scene, she wanted to broach the subject to Jasper and ask him how he felt about meeting a long-lost war buddy. But that plan got quickly derailed into an emotional mess of fury on her part and she never actually got around to mention it. Did they stick around? Should she send Damon out there to find out for himself?

"I'm about 99% sure that they are," Bella decided to reply. Besides him – if she heard correctly – only Caroline and Stefan were in at the moment. The fewer people in the house were able to object to her exit the better. Sometimes she really wondered whether she was some sort of evil mastermind with the ploys she pulled because as Damon's face lit up at the possibility, she knew for certain that he would be out the door within moments of her uttering the destination. "I'm not sure if he is still there, but we met at the Charlottesville reservoir, maybe you could track him down by scent from there if nothing else."

That should keep him busy.

"Great, thanks!"

And as predicted he was out the door.

"Where did Damon go?" Stefan asked as he strutted down the stairs just as the front door closed.

"Meeting an old friend," the brunette answered nonchalantly. She doubted that either party would hurt the other, so no need to alarm the others.

"Didn't realize he  _had_  friends," the dark-blond haired vampire frowned with wry amusement.

Bella just shrugged indifferently, passing the younger brother on the stairs on her way to her room to pack her bag.

"Hey… about Klaus…" Stefan turned to her seriously, preparing to present the idea the gang had come up with.

"Don't worry, I have it covered. I'm leaving actually," Bella shot him down, turning to continue her way up.

"What? Why?– the younger Salvatore looked puzzled.

"I'm going back to D.C.," she stated coolly. With all these complications she pondered whether it would have been better to not involve them. But they were already aware of the Original's movements even before she got here, so that was a moot point.

"But wouldn't that be… bad? I mean, isn't Klaus expecting you to stay here?" he asked dubiously.

"No. We have come to an understanding. It's all fine. He is leaving too, so he is not your problem anymore," the agent reiterated. She didn't want to reveal that they both were returning to New Orleans lest they follow and try to meddle again.

"Bella… what aren't you telling us?" Stefan grabbed her arm when she tried to start again for her room.

"Nothing. But I'm kind of in a hurry here so please let go of my arm," Bella stated flatly, looking down meaningfully on his hand on her. She was starting to lose her patience.

"Bella?" Caroline appeared at the top of the stairs, hopping down to them in a fraction of a second. She looked between them with worry, noting that Stefan still restraining her friend. "What's going on?"

"Nothing is going on except that I'm going back home to D.C. Please say bye to Bonnie and Jeremy and everyone for me," the brunette yanked her arm free, Stefan not really holding her back anymore. She was finally able to go upstairs and kicked her room door closed with a loud bang.

The blond pair stood there in shock, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

"Do you get the feeling that something is off here?" Caroline asked worriedly.

"Yeah, very much," Stefan sighed, rubbing his face with one hand.

"What do we do?" she asked with a half whining high-pitched voice.

"I don't think there is anything we  _can_  do," he concluded finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regarding the story a quick survey: Are you guys interested in seeing the Damon/Jasper reunion or should I just get on with Bella and New Orleans? The civil war stories aren't relevant to the plot, but if you want to read them then I shall deliver.


	15. New beginnings

Bella sighed heavily, shaking her head. Why the Scooby gang cared so much about what she did was beyond her. In a rush of vampire whirlwind, she packed her bag and was back out the door three seconds after blonde and blonder finished their séance in regards to the "hybrid situation."

"Bye, guys. Take care. And don't do anything stupid," the brunette said her farewells with her bag swung across her back.

"Back at you!" Caroline shrieked, still perturbed by the fact that she was left out of the loop.

"Stupid is my middle name," the agent chuckled, but her mood darkened quickly, a conversation coming to her mind, taking place many years ago.

_So, in plain English, are we friends now?_

_Friends…_

_Or not._

_Well, we can try, I suppose. But I'm warning you now that I'm not a good friend for you._

_You say that a lot._

_Yes, because you're not listening to me. I'm still waiting for you to believe it. If you're smart, you'll avoid me._

_I think you've made your opinion on the subject of my intellect clear, too. So, as long as I'm being… not smart, we'll try to be friends?_

Oh, yes. One of the stupidest mistakes of her life. Associating with Edward Bloody Cullen. Look where that got her. For a short few months of bliss, she traded an eternal existence of misery. So not worth it. But maybe moving to Forks was the starting point of it all. Stupid selflessness. Why did she have to think about Renée's needs instead of her own? Wasn't she about to the same now?

"Bella… everything alright?" Caroline asked with concern. Bella spaced out longer than she thought.

"Yeah, everything is fine. Seriously, don't meddle in Klaus's plans. I'll handle him," the hybrid bid her farewell then disappeared from their sight at vampire speed. The only evidence of her leaving was the slamming of the front door.

Bella was furious with herself. Why was she letting him affect her so even after all these years? She started her truck with an angry huff and drove away towards the road leading out of Mystic Falls.

Unfortunately, driving gave her way too much downtime. Even if she were to be traveling at 200 mph, she would still be able to react fast enough to anything happening on the road in front of her, and her truck could only push 120. Her mind wholly took advantage of which to dwell on the Cullens creeping back into her life. She didn't know what to make of it. She certainly didn't trust them. Especially them not leaving again on a whim without consulting her. Bella knew that she wouldn't be able to handle that devastation again, not with her heightened vampire emotions. Hopefully, her less than elegant display at handling Alice was enough of a warning for them stay away in the future.

She made the drive back just over an hour, parking her vehicle in front of her apartment building. The agent knew that Edward couldn't have possibly made his way to D.C. yet, but she was still relieved when she couldn't smell his scent anywhere in the vicinity. Forcing herself to move at a human pace, she entered, trotting up the stairs to burn some minimal energy instead of taking the elevator, which would have made her too fidgety.

Fortunately, all the furniture came with her rent, and she had only accumulated a minimal amount of personal belongings over the years. The brunette packed all of her stuff into two suitcases and a duffel bag in a matter of minutes. She took a few moments to say her farewells to her current life then brought everything she owned down to her truck after locking up.

The girl went back inside, ran up the stairs again and exited on Mr. Robinson's floor, knocking on their door.

"What do you want?" the grumpy elderly shuffled towards the door to open it. "Oh, it's you, dear," he said when he noticed it was only Bella. Made you wonder if he was a regular victim of the doorbell prank.

"I'm sorry it's so sudden, but I'd like to end my lease on the apartment upstairs. You can keep the security deposit of course," the agent informed him as she handed over the keys.

"Oh," the retiree looked befuddled. "Is there something wrong with the apartment?"

"No, everything was superb, but I'm moving out of town," she explained with a pang of guilt. She knew they relied on the income that came from the lease very much, but surely they could find a new tenant soon enough.  _Oh, right the compulsion_ , she remembered as she imagined him showing the place to potential residents, she had to release him from it for them to be able to do that. The hybrid looked into his eyes deeply. "You can let anyone you see fit into the apartment from now on. Is Mrs. Robinson home?"

Mr. Robinson looked up in a daze. "What? Oh, yeah, she is. Mable!" he called out over his shoulder, and soon his wife shuffled out too.

"What is it, Abe? Who is it?" the woman who could be her grandma asked. "Bella, dear! Come on in for a cup of tea!"

"I'm sorry, I can't. I'm in a hurry. I was just leaving the keys to the apartment," Agent Swan replied apologetically. When the elderly came close enough, she released her from the compulsion too. "Take care of yourselves."

She said her goodbyes and left, the couple waving after her forlornly. Bella had been the best tenant they could have ever hoped for. She didn't throw parties, cause a ruckus, or bring up random men at odd hours like some of the other residents in the building. No one had so much as a complaint about her ever.

The brunette hopped into her truck yet again and began her twelve or so hour long drive to New Orleans. If she was lucky, she could make it there just before midnight.

* * *

Compared to the capital city of the country, the home of jazz was a lot spunkier in character. D.C. had a sense of dull propriety and dignity to it. Bella's eyes grew wide at the various colors and forms the buildings of New Orleans danced in even at night. Music seeped out from joints on every corner, street performers entertaining the crowd out and about to have a good time. Maybe this was what she had been missing all along. Some goodhearted fun.

She parked in front of one of the hotels in the French Quarter, figuring that was a good place to spend the night. As she got out, the stench of vampire hit her nose hard. Even worse than Mystic Falls. How many vampires lived in this city? Or did she just choose the worst possible place to make her debut to the town?

Someone appeared behind her back.

"Well, well, look at what the wind swept along," a mocking male voice addressed her. Her instincts told her it was a vampire, but she made an effort to turn around at human speed instead of whirling around into a crouched defensive position, for the sake of secrecy and the well-being of people around them.

When she turned, she saw a tall African American man, his hair buzzed short and adorning a short circle beard, wearing a casual blue hoodie and grey undershirt.

"Can I help you?" Bella inquired with a forced polite smile as she shut her car door with a loud bang.

"I could ask the same from you. You are trespassing on our territory," the man retorted conceitedly, crossing his arms as if taking a stand.  _What a douche_ , the agent huffed inwardly. Even the Cullens had been more courteous to cold ones passing through the Olympic Peninsula.

"I doubt it. I was invited," she replied with a sly smile, since Klaus's voice hit her ears from a distance, him being only a few blocks from them. He would surely sort this out. The dark-skinned vampire's face faltered as if realizing the severity of the mistake he made.

"Marcel, is that any way to greet our guest?" the Original Hybrid strutted up to them, looking between them with a smirk. "Bella dear, welcome. You made the trip down in no time," he turned to her, kissing her on her cheek.

"You know how it is, we like pushing our cars to the limits, and they are still not fast enough," the agent batted her eyelashes with feigned civility.

"That I must agree with! Do you have a place to stay for the night?" Mikaelson asked jovially, but before Bella could turn his veiled offer down the other vampire tried to make his escape.

"I better get going," Marcel stated, clearly uncomfortable with the situation, or fearing Klaus's wrath.

"Oh, no you don't," the werewolf hybrid grabbed the other man by the shoulder to firmly hold him in place. "You better make up for your lack of manners. I'm sure Bella here could use a little entertainment and a tour of the city," he suggested, or more like ordered.

Bella had to wonder just what the hierarchy in a vampire settlement was based on, or how it was enforced. She had never lived among her kind, but she would guess it had something to do with age and how far removed the vampire was in the sire line from the Originals. Not that any of that really applied to her with her unique makeup. And she was more of a lone wolf anyway. No pun intended.

"No, it's quite alright. I'll just find a hotel. I like exploring by myself anyway," the agent quickly cut in, starting to feel sorry for Marcel, despite his earlier behavior. There was a solid basis for the reputation Klaus had.

"Nonsense, the compound is just down the street. We have plenty of spare rooms," he now outright offered a place to stay.

"Klaus, we had an agreement," Bella reminded him of her conditions for coming to New Orleans. She could see from the corner of her eyes that Marcel was bewildered by her upfront challenge of the Original's authority. Hm. Interesting. Just how many times did he go behind Klaus's back to stick it to him? She had the feeling that the man was not to be trusted.

"I know, I know. It's just until you find a suitable place of your own," the man explained with unfaltering glee. As a matter of fact, his all too agreeable behavior was suspicious to Bella as well. What the hell was he planning?

"Fine," the agent said begrudgingly after a few seconds of scrutinizing silence, reaching behind herself to the platform of her truck to get her luggage.

"Marcel, help her with her bags," Klaus finally released him, pushing him slightly forward. The whole thing must have been really humiliating to the black man, Bella realized. No wonder he was prone to mutiny. Klaus really needed a lesson in people management.

"I'm capable of carrying them on my own, thank you very much," the brunette huffed, lifting the biggest suitcase out with ease.

"I know. But we have a certain image to uphold, don't we?" Nik winked at her, taking the luggage from her hand and handing it to Marcel, grabbing the other, leaving Bella with only having to carry her duffel bag. Whether he meant some misplaced chivalry or the fact that vampires had to keep their existence a secret remained a mystery to her.

They walked down the street in silence, Bella taking in the unique architecture of the quarter further. She liked the atmosphere the district had with its balconies and flower crates.

"Here we are," Klaus announced suddenly, stopping in front of a red brick building with dark green window shutters and massive white double doors.

"It's… nice," Bella offered unsurely despite the weird vibe she was getting from it and without thinking or asking, let herself inside, much to the men's astonishment.

"Hi…" a beautiful green-eyed blond woman greeted her, glancing behind the agent at her brother questioningly then back at her. "I'm sorry, but how were you able to enter?"

"Freya, this is Bella Swan," the original hybrid offered as an explanation, but truthfully he had no idea how she had bypassed the invitation either. "Bella, meet my older sister, Freya."

"Nice to meet you," Bella offered awkwardly. She realized her mistake too now, she should have thought of them knowing the same trick of protecting their home that she had used. This was the second time she had ran into it. Should have been more careful.

"You too…" the obviously non-vampire but still somehow thousand-year-old woman – if she really was the sister of the Originals like Klaus said – trailed off. "I'm sorry, but that doesn't really explain it."

"The cat's out of the bag, so I might as well tell you. As you know, double vampire hybrid here," the brunette pointed to herself as she explained, trying to keep it lighthearted. "Cold ones aren't constrained by invitation. Neither am I. But don't worry, I don't intend to stay long, nor want to visit without express permission."

The siblings shared a look, while Marcel's brows would have gotten lost in his hair if he had any over his forehead.  _Oops._ He wasn't in on the loop about the hybrid freak-show. Great.

"It's alright, I was going to invite you in anyway, stay as long as you like," Freya offered cordially, grabbing her by the shoulder and guiding her towards a set of stairs. "Let me show you to a room you can use."

Meanwhile, the witch's mind was running through the contingency plans they had set up for the welcoming of the powerful girl, none of which accounted for the possibility that they won't be able to rescind her invitation. She might need to invent some new spells.

"A hybrid, huh," Marcel commented with a huff, throwing a meaningful glare at Klaus before leaving. This time the Original let him go.

Klaus glanced after his former protégé then at the stairs where his half-sister and hopefully future mate disappeared to. Too many damn complications. He could count on Marcel brewing some kind of plot against his plans again.

Bella carefully regarded Freya as she showed her a room, itching to ask what she was. Maybe a witch? If she remembered correctly, the Originals were created by their witch mother with an immortality spell. Raised the question why wasn't the older sister included in that.

"So, this is it. Make yourself at home," the blonde told her with a small smile.

"Thanks," the agent replied curtly, not planning on staying long enough for this place to feel home.

"Ah, Bella, you've arrived," came a soothing baritone form behind them. "Welcome to the Abattoir."

 _Slaughterhouse? Really?_  Bella raised her brow at the title. Quite fitting actually if you considered that vampires lived there on a permanent basis. She absolutely didn't want to know the history of the place that made the house earn the title.

"Elijah, don't frighten our guest," his older sister admonished with a tut.

"No, it's fine. Elijah has a history of making me feel uncomfortable in my place of residence," Bella remarked snarkily. Giving up her apartment wasn't that much of a sacrifice after he had invaded her privacy there. Although sharing lodgings with him wasn't high up on her list of preferences either. When Freya looked between them confusedly, and the Original didn't care to elaborate, she added. "He broke into my apartment in D.C."

"Actually your landlord let me in," the man in the immaculate suit corrected with a hint of a sly smirk. Cheeky bastard. He knew exactly what she had meant.

"You mean the one you compelled to let you in?" the agent retorted, crossing her arms, unamused.

"If you really wish to get technical then yes," Elijah relented, now full on smirking.

"Cut it out you two. And try to be civil with each other while Bella is enjoying our hospitality," Freya interrupted their banter with a shake of her head.

"I'm game, as long as Elijah here vows to respect boundaries," Bella snapped with a piercing gaze at said vampire.

"You have my promise," he conceded, not wanting to antagonize her particularly.

"Good," the brunette countered, just to have the last word.

"Good," Elijah repeated, just to spite her, cocking his head to the right, wondering what her next move would be in this fascinating little power struggle.

"God, grow up already," Freya muttered under her breath, especially at his little brother, stalking away from the infantile vampires.

"I am sorry that my actions made you uncomfortable," the Original offered sincerely after a beat.

"Apology accepted," Bella graciously replied, standing there awkwardly, wanting to be left alone to settle in.

"Right, I'll let you unpack," he said, realizing the tension and turned around, exiting the room.

Elijah didn't seem like the socially inept type, yet he behaved like one just now. Was she really making the thousand-year-old vampire uncomfortable? The situation oddly felt like the time she had arrived in Forks to live with her dad. She just hoped that somehow this wouldn't end in a similar disaster.

Bella fumbled around in her suitcases trying to find some sweats and a shirt to put on as nightwear then locked herself in the bathroom for a shower. Her body didn't need the cleansing per se. She didn't sweat, and grime didn't stick to her skin, but the familiarity and comfort of the routine kept her doing it every night or so. The hot cascading water felt nice on her skin.

When she stepped out, with the towel still wrapped around her damp hair, she froze for a moment, realizing that she wasn't alone in the room.

"Looks like it isn't Elijah who needs a lesson in respecting privacy," she commented wryly, making her way to her luggage to get her hairdryer out.

"Sorry, love. When you didn't answer the door, I wanted to make sure you were alright," Klaus smirked at her mischievously. Bella glanced down, following his line of sight, noticing that through the flimsy material all her… assets… were practically visible, if nothing else than their outline. She defiantly crossed her arms in front of her chest, blocking his view, after straightening up with the sought object in hand.

"I'm sure you heard the shower running. Slipping in there isn't something you or I have to worry about," the agent commented sassily, not in the mood for his flirting.

"Yeah, well you could still have run out on me, or someone might have abducted you. Raises the question why you didn't hear me knocking. I'm sure your ears are just as keen as mine," the Original challenged her playfully.

"I…" the agent paused. Truthfully she had gotten too lost in thought back there. She needed to keep her guard up more. "I was just too caught up in the bliss of a good shower. Didn't think I needed to worry about ambushes in an infamous fortress like this place is."

"Ah, Elijah let his tongue slip," he chuckled then switched to a more serious tone. "In any case, even if this place is guarded 24/7, you never know just how solid their loyalty is. Best to keep your eyes and ears open at all times."

"About that. I don't think you should trust Marcel," Bella commented as she moved back towards the en-suite and began to comb through her messy tresses.

"You caught onto that, didn't you?" Klaus darkly muttered, leaning against the door casually as he watched her.

"I'm a federal agent, remember? Being observant is in my job description." Not to mention she was naturally this way or otherwise she never would have discovered the Cullens' secret and the supernatural world. In no way she wanted to impose on the way he handled his men, it wasn't her business, so she let the topic of the vengeful vampire to Klaus since he knew about the situation it seemed. "Which brings me back to another point. You still haven't told me what it is you really want from me. And don't come with the companionship bullshit, because I'm not buying that's all of it. Nor the prestige, status, and power it would mean if you had me on your arm. I'm guessing you are trying to butter me up for something with this romance front you are putting up."

Maybe it would have been more prudent to keep her suspicions quiet, but she was tired of playing games and wanted him to fess up to whatever he was up to.

"You aren't very trusting, are you?" he evaded yet again.

"No, I don't trust that you won't cast me aside the moment I'm no longer of use or convenience to you," Bella blurted out, her insecurities getting the better of her.

"I really have a bad reputation," the werewolf hybrid sadly remarked.

"That too, but I've learned it the hard way to only rely on myself."

Her whole life was a giant learning experience in that regard. Starting with her mother. Edward was just the topping on the cake.

"I wish you would tell me who messed with that beautiful and smart head of yours so wickedly," Klaus stepped closer, tucking one of the wet locks of hair behind her ear. The gentleness of the gesture caught her off guard for a moment.

"I wish you stopped trying to dig into my past," Bella broke off the eye contact and stepped out of his reach to fiddle with the hairdryer. Fortunately, he got the message that she wanted him to leave.

"Get some rest, love. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow," he sadly told her, letting his hand drop. The rejection stung a bit. Definitely seemed like one step forward two steps back with this girl.

"How so?" the agent quirked her brow at him questioningly. What was he planning for tomorrow?

"Well, I would offer to show you around the city…" the Original trailed off. Obviously, he would have been thrilled by the prospect. "But you've already expressed that you would prefer to do that alone and do not wish to be seen with me. Either way, I'm sure you have a lot to take care of before you start work. On Monday, I'm guessing."

"Right," Bella tentatively confirmed. Tomorrow was Friday, so she probably had to find an apartment then, because the real estate agencies wouldn't be open on the weekend. Even though that was a logical assumption, it made her wary that he kept track of her life in such a way.

"Night, love. Sweet dreams," he bid her goodnight with a slight peck on her cheek then made towards the door to leave.

"Klaus…" the brunette hesitantly called after him, suddenly not so sure she wanted to leave things this way with him. He just looked so dejected, and for whatever reason, that bothered her a bit, despite her mistrust.

"Yes?" Klaus turned back, hiding his emotions at how glad it made him.

"Uhm… you too… have a good night," she said, not meeting his eyes again.

"Knowing that you are here, surely it will be," the Original smirked.

Even though Bella didn't look at him, she knew that Klaus did, she could hear it in his voice. Without another word, he finally left, and the girl let out a nervous sigh.

She almost turned the hairdryer on when conversation outside her door caught her ears.

* * *

"Aren't we turning into a real sap, Nik," Rebekah remarked snidely at her half-brother.

"You have no idea what you're yapping about, Rebekah," Klaus snapped at her angrily, brushing past her to get to his own room.

"Wow, she really did put you under her spell, didn't she?" the younger Mikaelson girl exclaimed in realization.

"My dear sister, mind your own business," he reiterated, anxiously glancing toward Bella's door, wondering if she was paying attention this time with her vampire hearing.

"You made her our business, remember? I just didn't think you would feel like this again. Especially so soon after Camille had passed…" his baby sister mused out loud, not meaning anything by it, but the mention of his former love had sent Klaus into a fit of rage.

Cami had died a horrible death because of the bite of Lucien Castle, and Enhanced Original Vampire. Not even Klaus's blood could save her. The memory still haunted him.

"I'd advise you to shut your trap before I decide that you'd better be put back into a damned coffin," the werewolf hybrid threatened, his eye glinting dangerously.

"There might have been a time when that threat scared me, but I doubt Freya would stand for it," Rebekah bravely countered, knowing full well that her older sister would never let Klaus's cruelty to get out of hand, especially against family members, but that just added fuel to the fire.

"Listen to me carefully. If you do anything to jeopardize Bella or my chances with her, I'll personally rip your heart out. Family or no family," Klaus spat at her as he pinned her to the wall by her throat.

"Jeez, calm the fuck down. I never said anything of the sort. I can't even tease my brother about his crush anymore?" she tried to make light of the situation, as if she wasn't scared to death by his though not uncharacteristic but way out of proportion reaction.

"I'm going to bed," the blond man suddenly released her and stalked off towards his room before he did something he would regret.

"Nik… Nik!" the girl called after him, wanting an explanation, but instead got cold shoulders, as he turned the corner without looking back. "Fucking stupid overreacting idiot."

* * *

Bella let a breath out she didn't realize she was holding when she heard the second set of footsteps leave the hallway. What the actual hell was that all about? Could Klaus really be in love with her and not just using her for some sort of plan? But they barely knew each other. And who was Camille? Why did he react so violently when she was mentioned?

_You fell in love with Edward pretty instantly too, didn't you?_

_More like with the mystery he presented in the beginning. And it took months for that to evolve into anything more…_

_Have you thought about it, that maybe you are a similar enigma to the vampires of the world?_

_Great… and now I'm talking with myself…_

With an angry huff, she turned the hairdryer on finally and meticulously dried every lock of her hair, trying to drown out the noises of the house. She didn't really mean to eavesdrop. Pretty nasty habit. But sort of hard not to with that level of intensity.

_What wouldn't you give right about now for some mindreading abilities?_

_Just shut the fuck up._

She was truly going crazy if her subconscious was wishing for something like that. It would have been hypocritical of her to want the power to snoop around in other people's heads for herself when she valued her mental privacy above all else. And she certainly didn't want Edward around to make him listen in. She didn't want him around, period.


	16. Here comes that other shoe

Even the mornings seemed brighter in the south. All sorts of brilliant shades of orange, red and yellow filtered in through Bella's east-facing window. The agent contentedly stretched a bit, then swung her legs over the side of the bed to sit up, making a mental plan of her day for herself. She got quickly dressed in jeans, a grey shirt, and black leather jacket then got her laptop out to research the locations of real estate agencies in the vicinity.

With all the vampire activity in the area, she really wanted to move away to another district, but the NCIS office was in the French Quarter too. Lucky that they were only called to Navy-related cases or inevitably they would have caught onto to the supernatural happenings by now. Let's just hope they were just as clueless as she was assuming. In any case, if she wanted to make sure they stayed that way she had to find a place reasonably close by so that she could intervene when necessary. Acting as a supernatural police force had never been among her plans, so the situation was rather uncomfortable for her.

The brunette studied the online map a bit longer, memorizing it all, then got her purse and strolled out of her room. The compound was awfully quiet. Either everyone liked to sleep in, or they were already out, attending to whatever business thousand-year-old beings who were no longer part of the human world had to attend to. Remembering Klaus's weirdly concerned comment about her running off, she wrote a quick note informing them where she went and left it on one of the nails sticking out by the doorframe. The last thing she wanted was a bunch of vampires tracking her by her scent around town.

After the wild night of partying in the quarter, the city was still asleep at this hour, only a few early risers could be seen, hurrying off to work. As she walked along Bourbon Street, the whiff of delicious pastries flitted by her nose, and on a sudden whim, she entered the bakery. There she bought herself a cinnamon roll and re-exited to the street, munching on her new purchase. She was infinitely grateful that she could still enjoy human food without having to throw it back up later. And they still tasted delicious to her. Another bonus point to vampires versus cold ones.

Finding an affordable but still nice condo was just as much of a struggle as in D.C., Bella had to admit after the tenth shitty place the real estate agent showed her under the price of $800. The hybrid really didn't want to resort to the same methods as back home, but they weren't really giving her a choice. She let the red-haired woman bump up the search to the $1000-1500 range, and she would just have to "renegotiate" the price directly with the owner. Unfortunately, by this time, the lady's workday was up, and they could only resume the apartment hunt on Monday afternoon. Klaus would be so thrilled that he could have her another few days…

The streets were noticeably busier than early in the day, pubs opening and saxophone melody pouring out yet again. On her way back, she happened to walk by the black wrought iron gate of the NCIS office on St. Ann Street (ironically enough located just by the Boutique du Vampyre costume shop) so she decided to head in to say hi and save herself the awkward introductions on her first day. If their office conduct back at the Navy Yard was anything to go by, people would still be around at 6 PM, Friday or no Friday.

From the yard, the entrance was located to her right, leading into the pale green building with the dark green balconies and shutters.

"Knock, knock. I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Bella greeted the lone female agent by the desk on the ground floor. She purposefully pulled her jacket back so that her badge would be showing and she wouldn't be confused for someone just off the street.

"How can I…" the short African American girl started before noticing the badge. "You must be the new girl. Agent Swan, right?"

"The very same, but just call me Bella," she shook the other woman's hand when a heated conversation from upstairs hit her ears. Probably not loud enough for her fellow agent to catch so she forced herself to not look up in the direction of the sound.

"Sonja Percy," the other agent introduced herself.

_"_ _Look I can't stop you if you are really set on quitting, I'd just like to know why?" Dwayne asked Meredith._

Bella recognized the male voice as the team leader of the New Orleans office.

_"_ _I know I gave no notice, but I just can't stay here, Pride. Besides I'm not really leaving you in a pinch, you already have a new agent who could take my place," Agent Brody evaded answering the question._

"Is this a bad time?" the hybrid inquired, feeling like she was intruding on some private moment.

"We just finished a case so not really. LaSalle already took off, but Brody and Pride have been up there for the past half an hour," Sonja revealed with a worried glance towards the upper office. "Between you and me, I think she is quitting."

_"_ _Your replacement isn't the issue here," – King sighed after a few moments._

_"_ _Again, sorry. I just can't do this job anymore," Meredith reiterated with a bit of distress evident in her voice._

Sounded like she was quitting law enforcement altogether.

_"_ _Is this about what happened at Great Lakes?" he inquired in a softer tone._

"How do you know?" Bella asked despite the fact that she knew precisely Sonja was right.

"Call it female intuition. She'd been kind of agitated all month, and with the case closed and you coming I think she found the perfect moment to bail," Agent Percy shrugged, crossing her arms.

_"_ _No, but I'd rather not talk about it. I better get going, bye," the woman shut the conversation down._

Bella heard some rustling of papers, probably the female agent's resignation letter as it hit the desk.

"Let's not judge her hastily, she must have a good reason to quit," the slightly taller brunette suggested. She too had done something similar back in D.C. only yesterday. Although, yes, she didn't quit altogether just the Major Case Response Team.

"I ain't no judging, just sayin'," the black girl remarked with a bit of sass. Bella liked her already.

Meredith just then reached the stairs at the side, coming down in a hasty pace.

"Oh… hi," she came to a sudden halt when she noticed the new girl and deduced her identity correctly. Maybe she had seen her picture in a file or something. "We thought you were only coming on Monday."

"Got into the city earlier, and just wanted to stop by," Bella replied to the short dark brown haired agent. It was clear to her that Brody had wanted to avoid meeting her. "Bella Swan," she said, offering her hand for a shake to her too.

"Meredith Brody. Sorry, but I've got to go. Bye, Sonja."

And with that, she bolted out of there faster than a bat out of hell.

"Well, that was a bit awkward," the newcomer sighed with wide eyes.

"Don't take it personally. If you'd like to know I'm glad you are here. You have quite the reputation among the agents," Sonja nonchalantly mentioned as she leaned back against her desk.

"Really?" the hybrid quirked a brow at that.

"Yeah, don't you know? You have the best case solving ratio in the history of the agency at 99.9%," the short woman enthused like a teenager who just met the lead singer of her favorite band.

_Not a 100%?_

"Oh yeah, there was that McDougal case a year or so ago that we couldn't crack," she recalled. The captain had gone missing on leave from the port. She had tracked his scent to the waterfront a mile from where he was last seen. He had probably gotten on a boat, but since there were no indication of either kidnapping or desertion (he had a spotless record, and neither of his crew members knew of any problems he might've had, also there weren't any ransom notes or calls), nor could they find his body or any evidence, the case went cold. The missing person's case was still open but was handed off to another team.

"Seriously? One unsolved case?" Sonja gasped incredulously.

"Yup," Bella shifted uneasily from one foot to another, her hand in her pockets, hoping very much that she wouldn't inquire how she had managed that. Far superior vampire senses were the key.

"Teach me, Sensei!" the fairly new NCIS agent bowed to her, and thankfully before it could get any more uncomfortable Pride boomed down noisily on the stairs.

"Oh, hey! Agent Swan, we didn't know that you'd be here already," he greeted, masking his frown at his earlier exchange with his former employee with a polite smile.

"Please, call me Bella. I just got into town. Wanted to say hi," the vampire shook his hand.

"Good, good. I'm guessing you ran into Brody on her way out?" The troubled look returned to Dwayne's face.

"Yeah, that I did. She was kind of in a hurry," Bella admitted, careful to not reveal that she knew a bit more than she was supposed to.

"Yes, well. She just quit," he informed them. At least one problem out of the way, she didn't need to pretend anymore.

"Told you so," the tiny woman commented to Bella with a meaningful emphasis.

"Less gossip girls and more reports!" the team leader chided with a shake of his head.

"Yes, Sir!" Sonja snapped to attention at once, returning to her desk.

"I'll leave you to it," the new team member decided it was time to make her exit.

"Bella, could you come up for a moment to have a word?" Pride stopped her, beckoning her upstairs.

"Sure," she relented. She shot a questioning gaze to Sonja behind the senior agent's back as she followed him, but she just shrugged, having no clue what this could be about.

* * *

"Don't worry, I don't bite," he chuckled once they were in his office and he closed the door on themselves, gesturing for her to take a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. His workstation was in a state of controlled chaos, and that was putting it mildly.

"I sure hope not," Bella allowed herself a small laugh in response, although couldn't help but wonder if there was an underlying meaning to that comment.

"Look, you've been an agent for quite some time now, based on your records a pretty damn fine agent at that, so you'll probably notice some odd occurrences in town soon enough," the team leader began his monologue uneasily.

_Oh, fuck no_ , Bella thought. She had a suspicion where this was going.

"Sometimes there are inexplicable disappearances and deaths, nothing pertaining to the Navy so far, but reports from the local police do make it my way on occasion. If you happen to run into something like this, please come to me first before putting it in an official report to HQ," Dwayne went on to say that raised all sorts of red flags for the hybrid, professional and otherwise.

_What in the seventh circle of hell?! Don't tell me the NCIS office was under the thumb of the Mikaelsons? What about the police? Other federal agencies? How much did they know? Were they aware of the supernatural world? Vampires? Was he onto me already?_

"I'm not sure I follow, Boss," the agent frowned, crossing her arms, pretending to play dumb and dismayed by the mere idea of skipping official procedure.

"All I'm saying is, keep your eyes and ears open, and if you stumble upon something seemingly impossible, talk to me. I've been trying to piece together this mystery for a good three years now. I could use all the help I can get," Pride told her. That time frame coincided with the return of the originals to town if her information was correct.

_Huh, maybe not then, he was just too insightful for his own good. Maybe Brody's sudden departure had something to do with the supernatural also. She could've unintentionally happened upon something nasty and was fleeing to save herself._

"Do all your new team members get this creepy, cryptic talk or I'm just singled out for some reason?" she knew she was treading dangerous waters here because she couldn't imagine why Pride would confide something like this to a newcomer. Unless he was trying to trick her into revealing something unintentionally. That worked both ways, although Bella couldn't read him, much like Gibbs he had an excellent grip on his reactions. Even his heartbeat told her nothing.

"LaSalle has been here long enough to catch on, yes," the team leader nodded, confiding in her. Again, was this some sort of trap? If she started asking him questions, it would surely get back to Dwayne.

"What about Brody? Or Percy?" the vampire inquired further.

"No." There went her theory about Meredith bailing because of supernatural involvement. Well, at least as far as Pride knew. His heartbeat didn't indicate lying. Theoretically, she could have "stumbled upon" the issue all by herself if it really was that prominent around here as Dwayne claimed it to be, and was just too freaked out to confide in anyone.

"Then I really don't understand. I haven't even started yet, why tell me?" she leaned back in her chair, oozing doubt about his intentions.

"Like I said, you are a bright agent. I can't imagine you not noticing soon enough. I just wanted to give you a heads up."

Again a sort of non-answer.

_What load of bull crap._ Bella didn't like this, not one bit. She already had enough on her plate without having to be extra careful around her new team leader.

"Thanks… I guess…" the vampire sighed, utilizing that natural and unsuspicious chance to take a big whiff of air to discern if he was on vervain or had any on him based on smell. Not as far as she could tell. Promising. If he had known enough about vampires, he would have taken that precaution. But she still didn't know if that was the issue they were dancing around. "Can you at least tell me what you think this mystery is?"

"Without sounding crazy? Probably not. Come to me once you have seen it, then we can discuss without you wondering if I need to be locked up," the senior agent smirked, knowing full well how that sounded. Yet again, Bella was wondering what the real purpose of this talk was.

"Okaaay… although kind of hard to know when 'I've seen it' if I don't even know what I'm looking for," she decided to steer back to the clueless and unsettled façade. That would have been the natural response to something like this. Scratch that. Quitting on the spot would have been the sane option. Who springs a welcome talk like this on anyone?

"Trust me, you'll know," he looked at her meaningfully.

_Trust me, I won't tell you anything if this is really about the supernatural world like I think it is…_

"Alright, Boss. Is that all?" Agent Swan decided that it was too risky to try compulsion at the moment and there really wasn't any point in inquiring further without it. Sometimes she wondered if being a vampire had already made her cold and immune to certain human morals. Her mask of carefully construed lies was so perfect that it scared her sometimes. She could think whatever on the inside, and no one would be wiser on the outside if she really put her mind to it. And for whatever reason, using compulsion didn't seem like that big of a transgression against privacy like full on mindreading did to her. Maybe because she didn't go around forcing the truth out of random people.

"Have you found a place to stay yet?" he asked.  _Ah, finally a normal people question._

"On it. Till then a friend is putting me up," Bella replied, happy and relieved that soon this talk was over.  _Did I really just call Klaus a friend?_  While it fit perfectly in the context, she wasn't particularly trying to make it sound like it.

"Good. Let me know if you need any help. Getting to know the town or anything. I'm sure the others would be glad to give a tour too," Pride smiled encouragingly as he stood from his desk, the vampire followed suit.

"Thank you for offering, but I've got that covered too," the hybrid shook her head slightly with one of her own.

"Then have a nice weekend and welcome to the team," Pride dismissed her.

"Good to be here," she said out of politeness, but truth be told she began to wonder just what kind of mess she had landed herself into. Times were much simpler when she was on her own, and she didn't have to juggle the expectations of the supernatural world alongside her professional duties.

* * *

"Ah, Bella love, you are back!" Klaus greeted her the moment she stepped through the huge entrance, along with the rest of the family. "Care to join us for dinner?"

Her paranoia had her take multiple detours and side streets from the NCIS office back to the Abattoir, just to make sure she wasn't followed. Then she very carefully observed parking cars, windows or any place where someone might be set up as surveillance in the vicinity. Unfortunately, she could do nothing about potential recording devices, especially the cameras on the streets or public properties. It might have seemed irrational – although a great exercise in getting to know the French Quarter – but she couldn't help but wonder if maybe that talk was a threat or warning, depending on whether her new team leader believed she was one of them or not. But how could he? Not knowing just how far Dwayne had connected the dots was killing her.

"Yeah, in a moment, but we have to talk first," Bella stormed past everyone grabbing the werewolf hybrid by the hand – to both of their surprise – and towed him towards the far end of the compound through multiple corridors to have some semblance of privacy. She knew if any of the originals wanted to they could easily eavesdrop and she couldn't expect any sort of courtesy from them not to do so like from Stefan. In either case, sooner or later they would have to be informed too.

"Why do I get the feeling that I am in trouble?" he inquired with a massive smirk on his face, very much enjoying their close contact, especially since it was given without any prodding from him.

"Seriously, when are you  _not_  in trouble for one thing or another?" the brunette peered up at him with a challengingly raised brow.

"Fair point," the Original chuckled, his grin growing even wider. He looked like a mischievous child just caught red-handed.

"I'm just going to cut to the chase. I went by the NCIS office this afternoon. And my new boss had a very bizarre talk with me. Tell me, how long you guys have been back in New Orleans?"

Fact checking came first, and though correlation did not mean causation, in this case, she was pretty confident the two went hand in hand.

"Three years or so," Klaus replied, not quite sure where this was going yet.

"That's what I thought. Look, I have no idea what you been up to, but you need to be more discreet. Some police reports about odd disappearances and deaths have made it to even NCIS. I got the feeling that they have no idea what's really going on, and hopefully, they have no clue of supernatural involvement, but whatever you are doing that is raising all these red flags  _has to stop_. Or you  _will_ be found out. Me too if I keep associating with you!" she rushed through her words agitatedly, poking the werewolf hybrid in the chest to emphasize her point.

"Having an all-out war with just about any supernatural community in the city answers your question?" the dark blond vampire laughed out.

He actually had the audacity to laugh in this situation!

"Oh for fuck's sake…" Bella threw her hands up in the air in frustration and took a step back from him. "What are we talking about? Witches, vampires, werewolves?"

"In that order. Multiple factions of each," the Mikaelson brother watched her in amusement.

A string of mental profanities was stirring in her mind, and she started pacing the room, trying to calm herself down. Getting dragged into the middle of this was the last thing she wanted.

"Is it still ongoing?" the agent asked finally with a sigh when she deemed that she could speak without totally flipping out.

"Not that I know of. Unless they are plotting something against me behind my back again," Klaus shrugged. He would act the instant he got whiff of anything going on, but he believed he had the city reasonably under control by now.

"Well, at least that's something," Bella conceded, finally stopping her pacing, although she didn't like the situation, not one bit.

"Except…" he uneasily started to broach the next subject.

"You are about to drop a bombshell on me, aren't you?" the vampire hybrid was already filled with a sense of dread.

"We have a problem with an Upgraded Original vampire, Lucien Castle."

"I think the better question is what problem he has with you," she pointedly remarked. Though she didn't know what "upgraded" Originals were, she could guess that they promised nothing good.

"I am quite fond of how that head of yours works," the Original stepped closer to the girl, pulling her closer to himself, his hand around her waist.

"Enough with the sweet talk and spill it already," the agent huffed with a no-nonsense attitude, utterly unimpressed by the diversion tactics.

"All right," Klaus sighed and began his tale. "He was the first vampire I, or any of us, had ever turned over a millennium ago. Going into detail about the many grievances he has against me is quite pointless, but he won't stop until he has killed me that is for sure. The problem is, Upgraded Original vampires possess superior strength to us due to the reverse engineered Immortality Spell, and his venom can kill us too. He had already killed someone very dear to me."

The conversation she overheard last night came to Bella's mind, and her heart dropped.

"Camille?" she asked in a small voice.

"How? Never mind," he shook his head. He should've known that she had overheard them. They weren't exactly quiet about it, right in front of her door no less. With her intellect, it was no wonder she put the pieces together. "Yes. She was bitten by Lucien, and even my blood can't cure the mixture of venom derived from seven werewolf packs."

The brunette stepped back from their embrace, her face in a cold mask.  _Why did I ever think he could actually care about me? It was never about love or romance, and I should have known. I knew all along, I suspected that something else was up. Then why the hell did I let hope blossom in my heart?_

"This is the real reason you dragged me here, isn't it? You think I'm immune to werewolf venom, or stronger than him, or something. You want me to avenge your dead girlfriend for you," the vampire hybrid accused, trying very hard to control her emotions, not letting them spill over.

"It's not…" the original tried to protest.

"Not what I think? Save your breath, I don't want to hear it." And with that, she stormed out of the room before he could see her face.

"Bella!" Klaus called after her, but there was no stopping her.

She ran right past the rest of the Original family in the inner courtyard, their faces stunned when they saw her tears.

"Dinner?" Freya tried, perplexed as to what could have happened.

"Not hungry," the girl muttered under her breath, knowing that at least some of them surely heard it. She had lost all her appetite.

Bella took the stairs three at a time then locked herself in her borrowed room. She hastily wiped the few tears that had escaped from her eyes from her cheeks.

Why was she so upset? Crying even? It's not like she didn't expect that there was a catch to all this. She knew that the other shoe would fall eventually. Maybe she was hoping it would be a little later, that she could have some pretense of normalcy and peace before the shit hit the fan again. Was she jealous of a dead woman? Not really. Nor was Klaus in any way hers. Just the whole way this had been packaged and presented to her, wrapped in the illusion of courting, the deception of it all. When was she going to find out about all this if it weren't for the fact that Pride's words spooked her? Why did she even feel the need to warn the youngest Mikaelson brother about this?

Those and a thousand other questions whirled around in her mind. Some time later there was a knock on her door, Klaus asking if he could come in, checking the handle and finding it locked when there was no answer, but otherwise didn't force his company on her as she stood by the window, watching the people on the streets while she mulled over every facet of the issue.

Being used bothered her. How possibly could Klaus even know if she was immune to werewolf venom, much less to that deadly concoction of different ones the Upgraded Originals could secrete? A laugh bordering on hysteria escaped her. Well, Damon would probably get his wish soon enough. He wanted Tyler to test out if werewolves could penetrate her skin, now Klaus would have to do it, with his antidote blood right there handy if it went all sideways.

There was just one small problem. She didn't fully trust that he would give it to her. Not without some strings attached. And what if her hybrid physiology left her poisoned but incurable? Of the many ways, she could go, dying by an experiment gone wrong would be humiliating. She could already see Pride's face before her when he came to investigate the disappearance of his subordinate, who hadn't even started on the job yet. Because sure as hell there wouldn't be a body for them to do an autopsy on.

A risk she would have taken any day for her friends, but who was she exactly protecting now? Not them that's for sure. Who were the Mikaelsons to her to demand something like this from her? Not even requesting it, more like tricking her into acting in their best interest. And yet if she wanted to live in peace, she would have to do it. For all intents and purposes, this was her city now too, and she couldn't just uproot herself again so soon if she wanted to keep her current lifestyle and line of work.

Bella knew she had behaved childishly, but couldn't really care. In a sense, she had all the power over the situation right now. Ultimately, they depended on her and her decision if they wanted a fighting chance. She absentmindedly looked at her phone to check the time. 11 PM. Plenty of time left to get the ball rolling tonight.

* * *

She unlocked her door and found that someone had left her a plate of food. As far she heard only Klaus had come by, although she wasn't paying much attention. A puzzlingly sweet gesture. Even if she still wasn't hungry.

The brunette picked the plate up and headed downstairs. No one seemed to be around, so she just put the food in the fridge. She got herself a glass of water, and while she sipped on it, she heard the noise of feminine steps coming her way. When she turned around, she found Rebekah in the doorway, appraising her with a stink eye.

"Look who had finished sulking," the blonde nastily remarked.

_What is her problem?_  Bella decided not to deign to answer the provocation, turning her attention back to the water and taking a large sip.

"What? Now you think you are better than everyone else? Look at me when I'm talking to you!" the female Original shrieked in outrage, not used to being ignored.

"Sorry, I'm not in the business of giving bullies what they want," the agent replied, deciding it was best to exit the situation, abandoning her glass in the sink. Thankfully the kitchen had an opening on both sides.

Rebekah whipped to the other side in vampire speed, cutting off her exit.

"I have no idea what my brother sees in you. A young little brat with no manners or respect," Rebekah sized her up with a look of disdain.

"I think you are in confusion about the situation here. I'm not in pursuit of Klaus, he was the one who forced me to come here," Bella tried to step around her, but the other girl blocked her by grabbing the door frame in front of her.

"Do you think I'm blind or something? You are falling for him, and hard. Just don't whine when you are left on the street once he is done with you," she spat, trying to stare her down.

"Move. Out. Of. My. Way," the agent pronounced every syllable separately to emphasize her point. Her blood was boiling, Rebekah's words were right on target about her fears. It had been done to her once already.

"Or else?" the blonde mocked.

And that was when Bella snapped and pinned her to the door frame with practiced ease, keeping the Original's arm behind her back in an awkward and painful angle. Rebekah struggled as hard as she could against the brunette's hold, but couldn't even budge her. Realization started dawning on her that she had picked the wrong vampire to mess with.

"What the hell?" the Original exclaimed in disbelief.

"I am not going to say this twice. You don't want to pick a bone with me. Now, I can go on and pretend that the last few minutes never happened, but if you so much as look at me the wrong way again, there will be consequences…" Bella hissed in her ear menacingly, too low for anyone farther than the hall to make out her words, even with enhanced hearing.

"What is going on here?" Elijah appeared suddenly by their side, demanding an explanation for his sister's predicament.

"Nothing. I was just showing Bekah a very handy move to immobilize opponents," the agent let go of the girl. "Even if we are one of the strongest creatures on Earth it never hurts to learn proper self-defense. We girls must stick together, am I right?"

The brunette looked over at Rebekah expectantly, eager to find out how she would react.

"Absolutely. Women are always taken lightly. We need to have a certain edge, especially with the dangers we are facing now," she said after a beat, the bewildered look melting away from her face into a careful mask.

Elijah regarded both of them with suspicion, but let the matter go.

"Is Klaus still up?" Bella inquired, maybe a tad too cheerfully.

"He is in the art room. Right corridor, second door on the left after the far end corner," the Original, clad in a well-tailored suit even at this late hour gave her the direction.

"Thanks," she said then left them, trying very hard to hide her exhilaration.

_Holy cow! I just overpowered an Original!_


	17. Taking the necessary steps

Friday met a certain copper-haired cold one in a hotel room in downtown D.C. He got in past midnight because the unusually sunny day in Seattle prevented him from boarding a plane before sundown. Now Edward was in a similar predicament, he couldn't start searching for Bella until the rays of the sun retreated.

That left him with plenty of time to wallow in his thoughts. The century-old creature was guilt-ridden. No matter how hard he tried to protect his love from the dangers of the supernatural world, somehow she managed to fall right back into it. To think that she had been a vampire for nearly five years!

Alice had alluded to it, but it was clear that she was of a different kind. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to acquire a day-job in law enforcement. Edward could see why she would have chosen that. Charlie, her father, was a police chief, and after her utter lack of balance and clumsiness was cured by her transformation, there weren't any practical reasons why she should avoid this line of work. Edward saw in her father's mind how proud he was of her, even if worried at times since he had no idea about her change in circumstances.

Still, Bella must have only been months old in her new life when she started her training at the police academy. Spoke great lengths about her control over her thirst. Though he couldn't know, maybe this different kind of vampires never had this trouble to being with.

Edward was saddened by the fact that she had never come looking for them, although that was understandable too. He had left her in the woods, utterly heartbroken, though he never would have imagined that she would believe him so quickly. Was there any love left for him in her heart? Could he regain her trust? He had to find out.

Around 4 PM the weather shifted, thunderclouds rolling in, so he was free to roam the city, trying to find her scent. He had to hurry too because the rain would wash away the traces. He had no idea where to start. Charlie didn't specifically think about which federal agency she was working at right now, but Edward was reasonably sure it wasn't the FBI or CIA.

Something with the Navy or Marines, maybe the Coast Guard? He quickly looked up the agencies related to those part of the Department of Defense.

The Navy Yard, where NCIS was located, was closest to his hotel, so he decided to try there first. He parked his rental car a bit ways off from the gate and walked there on foot. He instantly knew he was in the right place. Though there were different undercurrents to her smell now, proving to him that she was a vampire now, the floral scent – of lavender, roses, and freesia – that he loved so much was still there. The freshest remnants were nearly three days old, muffled, apparently, she left the place by car, but it was evident that before that she frequented the area on a daily basis.

He deemed going in and asking about her a bit risky, so he tried to track her scent. There was a fairly strong trail, a route she had taken several times, probably on foot on occasion, so it might have led to the place of her residence. Triumphantly he trotted back to the car and followed it with the windows down so that he didn't lose it.

A mere seven-minute drive away he found another hub of concentrated scent at a nice apartment complex, where she had obviously gotten out of the car. She must be living there. The sign at the corner of the parking lot claimed it to be Capitol Park Plaza Apartments. Her scent was fresher there, only a day old. She had been back in Mystic Falls yesterday morning, that much he knew, but she must have come back here shortly after, but not to her workplace. Seemed odd.

Edward drove into the lot, and after parking, he continued tracking her scent to one of the many entrances of the complex. On the doorbell panel, he quickly found the name, Bella Swan, living on the sixth floor in apartment 6C. By sheer luck, someone came out at that precise moment so he slipped into the crème colored lobby before the door could close again. He took the elevator to the right floor and found her door with ease at the end of the carpeted hall.

He stood there for minutes, running his hand through his copper hair agitatedly, trying to work up the courage to knock, even though he knew she probably wasn't there. The last trail led out of the building, not in. Right then an elderly man stepped out of the elevator heading straight for that door with a large batch of keys in hand.

"Can I help you, young man?" Abraham Robinson, Edward found out from his thoughts and also the fact that he was the landlord of the apartment, asked with wary curiosity.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Bella Swan," the cold one politely inquired and noticed that his tone automatically lessened the greying man's fright. Can't be a delinquent if he had such good manners, right? Still, his unnatural aura served as a deterrent to most humans with the slightest bit of survival instinct. Not her Bella though.

"Oh, she moved out yesterday," he informed him dejectedly. Edward saw the scene play out in his mind and his knees almost buckled as he saw the image of his love after so long. She looked a bit different, her features more angular, refined, not the awkward teenager she used to be, though he found her just as lovely back then too. Her eyes were the same chocolate brown they always been. Another surprise.

"Has she maybe left a forwarding address?" Cullen asked just to make sure, but he was fairly certain she didn't, based on the quick glimpse he got.

"I'm afraid not, she just said that she was moving out of town. It was all very sudden, she didn't even give us proper notice. Nice lass, she was though, offered to leave the security deposit without us even asking," Mr. Robinson ranted on absentmindedly as he tried to find the right keys for the door.

"Thank you anyway," he respectfully nodded, already rounding the man to make his exit.

"Sorry I couldn't help," Abe still concentrated on shifting through the keys with shaky hands.

"Have a nice evening," Edward bid him farewell and disappeared into the stairwell.

"Good… goodbye," the landlord muttered, finally looking up but finding no one in the hallway.

Once outside and back in the safety of his car, Edward's mind reeled. Moving out of town so suddenly? Right after she ran into Alice and Jasper? Was she running from him? Did she hate him that much? She did ask to be left alone, even attacked Alice, though he couldn't imagine her doing that, not without provocation. Maybe she had felt threatened somehow, or Alice had tried to stop her from leaving, which led to her reacting that way.

He had two options now, go back to the Navy Yard and try to find someone who knew her and listen into their thoughts, or go to Mystic Falls and hope that someone there had information on her whereabouts.

Option one seemed more rational, he was right there, less than ten minutes away, but the cameras and the sharp instincts of agents were a serious risk factor. Naturally, a federal agent disappearing without a word would raise all sorts of red flags, so her place of work must have had some information, if nothing else that she quit, though doing that on such short notice was suspicious too. Maybe she arranged a transfer?

Edward drove back to the Navy Yard, his mood at a near all-time low. Unfortunately, he faced the same problem as before, there wasn't any convenient way to park near either gate of the place. You either had to go in through the security check or lurk around on foot.

The yard was like a little town of its own within the city, with restaurants, coffee shops and everything inside, so agents didn't really mill around outside of the gate, only coming and going by car. Edward knew that standing around there would get suspicious very soon. So he decided to walk along the perimeter of the brick wall fencing the area.

It really must have been his lucky day because a train of thought coming from an approaching black Dodge Charger caught his attention.

_I'm so confused by all this. Tony has been acting weird since yesterday morning, then there was that mark on his face. Obviously, someone slapped him. Hard. Abby wouldn't say anything though she seemed to know what happened in Mystic Falls. Then Bella suddenly transfers to New Orleans, and now I have to look into her past? So fishy. And Gibbs, well he is Gibbs._

Edward identified the thoughts coming from the relatively young,w geekish looking guy from the back seat. The other, about middle-aged, man riding shotgun had a scene of kissing Bella then her slapping him repeating over and over in his head. It seemed like a memory, but he was befuddled by his impulse to kiss her, about how he couldn't help it. Like he didn't have a choice but do it. The copper-haired cold one's blood practically boiled in rage that someone dared to try to take advantage of his Bella, even if she was perfectly capable of handling the situation.

And that is when the older – at least compared to his passengers – pepper-haired man driving, shot a sharp gaze at him, just as they passed him on the street. Edward reined in his facial features but it was too late, his murderous stare had been seen. He tried to discern from the man's thoughts, who according to the other two was Gibbs, what he made of him, but his mind was singularly driven, no side-tracks, focusing on exactly on the issue at hand and nothing else. The image of a copper-haired, amber-eyed teenager, unnaturally pale with obvious anger issues was filed away for later use, not dwelling right now on trying to figure him out.

In either case, Edward was not planning on staying any longer, he had what he came for. Bella was in New Orleans.

* * *

Bella found Klaus busy painting, dragging the brush across a canvas with jerky, agitated strokes. He must have used art as a sort of therapy, to get his frustrations out. From the door, she couldn't see what he was working on, only a section of his face that wasn't blocked by the easel, but he was so immersed in the process that he didn't even notice her standing there.

"Do you have a moment?" the brunette inquired after a few minutes, reluctant to disturb him, but the faster they got over with this whole thing, the better.

"For you? Anytime," he gave her a tight smile, setting the brush and palette down.

"Don't worry, I didn't come to fight," Bella offered the olive branch as she stepped into the room, hugging herself tightly to brace herself for the rest of the talk.

"About Camille…" Klaus began in a soft yet urgent tone, but she quickly crossed the distance between them, not wanting to hear any of it. It didn't matter.

"Shh, I don't need to know," the agent pressed her index finger against his mouth to quiet him. "All you need to do is bite me. We need to test out how I will react to werewolf venom before I jump into this."

"Love, there is a chance that my blood cannot cure you," the werewolf hybrid raised his brow, seemingly terrified of the prospect.

It made absolutely no sense to Bella. Unless, of course, he was afraid of his carefully laid plans going up in flames. In a way he also confirmed that she was right earlier, her being in New Orleans had one purpose. Killing Lucien Castle since the originals couldn't do it themselves.

"That is a chance we will have to take. It's far riskier to face Lucien without at least having some idea how my body can handle it, even if in the end his version of the venom is far more potent," she frowned because this was exactly the same thing that occurred to her and had to work through to reach her resolve.

"But if this goes wrong…" he insisted more vehemently now, cupping her face in his hands.

"Then you'll lose a pawn and have to rethink. Tough luck. But if you build a strategy on me without knowing what I'm capable of, you could endanger everyone else too with a premature move, and I know how important your family is to you. The first thing he will do is go for my neck, believing he could effectively take me out of the equation. If werewolf venom is not something I can handle, it's better for you to seek another angle. Before the fight starts, that is, improvising is not an option. I'm sure you have anticipated it since you learned about my hybrid nature that I was a big unknown and a huge gamble to place all your cards with me," Bella ranted on, avoiding his gaze at all costs.

"You are not a  _pawn_ , Isabella Marie Swan. I cannot lose you," the Original stated with conviction. That admission surprised her so much that she looked into his eyes, and didn't even notice that he knew her full name. He caressed her cheek fondly as he searched brown eyes for evidence that she believed him. "You are nothing less than a queen."

There was that phrase again, the one that had Bella wondering since their first meeting, and then Klaus kissed her passionately. For a moment Bella let it happen, his mouth softer on hers than she would have ever imagined, yet demanding with a sense of urgency and fervor. Practically sparks were flying between them, electrifying her very core. Edward had never made her feel this way, he was always so controlled and restrained with her. That thought suddenly brought her to her senses, and she broke off the contact of their lips, all too soon for the dirty blond haired man.

"Let's not mix pleasure with business and pretend that there is anything more between us," she said, swallowing uneasily as she stepped out of his embrace too.

Disappointment crossed his features, but he nodded reluctantly, even though he desperately wanted to dispute that statement. Maybe after this was all done and over with he could prove himself to her, show her that he had no ulterior motives. Not anymore.

"Where do you want to do this?" the usually coldhearted vampire asked her, now struggling to put up an indifferent front.

"Here is fine," Bella suggested, offering her wrist to him to bite. If she were to die, doing so among works of art seemed like a nice enough place. Although based on the accounts she heard she wouldn't drop dead instantly. A day or two of feverish delirium and aggressive hallucinations were first to come.

Klaus took her hand, noticing the cooler temperature of the crescent scar, running his thumb across it. Without realizing she had given him the same hand James had bitten all those years ago.

"I always wondered how exactly you happened to become a hybrid," he murmured. "A cold one bit you when you were still human?"

"Yes," she confirmed tentatively, not really wanting to rehash that part of her life, especially not with him. Who knew what he would do with this information, might even try to recreate it.

"Still, I do not understand why you had not turned into one then and there," Klaus frowned, examining the paler and slightly iridescent surface of her skin there.

"The venom was sucked out," the brunette explained curtly.

"By whom?" his perplexion was even greater now.

"Another cold one," Bella told evasively.

"He must have had great self-restraint. I am told cold ones can rarely stop feeding once they start," the Original mused. He was still caressing the skin on her wrist, and it was becoming increasingly harder for her to ignore the tiny pleasurable shivers that ran up and down her spine in response.

"How do you know it's a he?" she quirked her brow at him.

"Wild guess. How did you come to associate with multiple cold ones? Were you not a teenager then?" the werewolf hybrid responded with a question of his own, thrilled by the mystery the girl in front of him presented.

"Let's just say I'm a danger magnet," the agent chuckled darkly. Edward used to say that. How right he was.

"I guess it is rather lucky you are practically indestructible now," Niklaus commented absentmindedly. He was starting to get really protective of her, and having second thoughts about sending her into the fray.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't bet on that. No matter where I am, somehow even greater danger manages to find me. Let's just take you for example," Bella pointed out.

"You believe I mean you harm?" There was an underlying hurt and sadness in his tone.

 _Yes_ , she wanted to say. Or at least he definitely didn't have qualms about pitching her against an Upgraded Original vampire, letting the pieces fall wherever they may. Instead, she tried a more diplomatic route.

"Intent and consequence rarely go hand in hand. And the way you first approached me, dragging me back to Mystic Falls with a murder case just screams 'mortal peril' by anyone's books," the brunette chastised.

"You are right. Not one of my finest moments. I did not know at the time when I came up with that plan how you would make me feel yet," he admitted with a sigh.

Bella was getting more and more befuddled by the way he acted towards her. She couldn't decide what was true and what was merely manipulation, especially not taking into account Rebekah's intervention earlier in the kitchen.

"Anyway, let's get this over with already," the agent decided to just ignore it for now and get to the point of her visit. If she survived this, she would have plenty of time to sort through everything.

Without further ado, he bared his werewolf fangs, his eyes turning yellow, and bit her. He managed to break the skin, a trickle of her blood running down from the corner of his mouth. For some reason instead of pain, the act left her with an undercurrent of desire, even a small moan escaped her lips. Blood sharing was not a practice she had ever taken part in, but she started to see the appeal of it among vampires.

"Oh, shit! Don't swallow it," Bella exclaimed hastily as she realized that cold one venom might not be wise to be consumed. By anyone really. It had highly corrosive properties, and the shapeshifting wolves at La Push were sort of allergic or sensitive to it, did nasty stuff to them if bitten. Who knew how werewolves would react to it, even if said werewolf was a hybrid.

"Why not? It's just blood, love, even if vampire blood. I have drunk plenty of it over the years," Klaus released her hand, looking at her with a mix of confusion and carnal pleasure as he licked the remainder of the blood off his lips.

"No, it isn't. I'm also partially a cold one, who have venom coursing through their veins," she reminded him, apprehension at the possible outcome creeping into her mind.

For a few seconds, it seemed that all was well, both of them staring at the other in anticipation of what's to come. Then suddenly he looked like he was going to be sick, his face paling, maybe even a little green, sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"Excuse me for a moment," Klaus muttered apologetically, holding up a finger and pressing his other hand to his mouth.

He ran out to the nearest bathroom and hurled noisily into the toilet, even his dinner resurfacing. Bella timidly followed after him, the caretaker side of her personality kicking into high gear. She yanked one of the small towels off the rack and ran cold water over it, then pressed it against the back of his neck.

"I'm so sorry, I should have thought this through. I'm guessing the venom might even be more concentrated around the scar than other parts of my body," the brunette murmured as she soothingly ran circles into his back with her fingers, praying to whoever would listen that this would be the full extent of the adverse reaction and it won't get worse. She wanted to tell herself that she only feared the retribution from the rest of the Mikaelsons if she got him seriously ill, but truthfully she was really worried about Klaus.

As soon as everything left his system, he straightened up, looking much better. After a final shudder, he took the towel from his shoulders and wiped the sweat off his face with it.

"I am all right now. Terribly sorry that you had to see that," he smiled at her meekly as he flushed the toilet.

"Are you really fine?" the vampire hybrid appraised him, trying to see if he was speaking the truth and not just trying to spare her feelings.

"Yes, good as new. My system just successfully rejected the venom. Sort of like a sudden case of food poisoning, or when you taste the rancid chicken, and your gag reflex just kicks in," the Original explained with a wry smile. There was only a very limited list of things that could harm an Original, especially permanently.

"Thank God," Bella sighed in relief and sagged back against the tiled wall behind her, burying her face in her hands.

"Your concern for me is still heart-warming," Klaus chuckled as he turned around and sat back down on the floor facing her. The smirk on his face made it evident that he purposefully used the same words as on their dinner date, just to tease her.

"Oh, shut up," she let out a nervous giggle, hiding further behind her arms and knees, blushing hard. Denying was getting harder and harder with every minute they spent together. On some level she found Klaus intriguing, despite the evil front he put up. She sometimes felt this was just a hard front he had put up to protect himself.

"How's the wrist?" the Original inquired a moment later, his mood taking a sudden disquieted turn as he tried to pry her right hand away to see if she was reacting to his venom or not.

"Huh? Oh, right. It doesn't even hurt," the brunette had almost forgotten that she was bitten by a werewolf not ten minutes ago and let him move her hand towards himself to check on her bite wound.

"Astounding!" His eyes went wide as he noticed that there was only a red puckering of the skin left, almost completely faded already like a typical injury of this size would on a vampire.

"What were you expecting?" the agent inquired.

"Werewolf bites do not heal, because the venom prevents it. Within a few hours, the blood gets infected. First the chills, fever, then the hallucinations that get progressively worse. By the end the bitten vampire goes rabid, feeding on anything and everything that comes its way. Then dies. Nasty business."

The entirety of the process had been a mystery to her so far, not having witnessed it firsthand. Did not sound pleasant at all.

"Well, I guess I skipped right over this hurdle too," Bella sighed as she pulled her arm back, hugging herself once again as she laid her head on her knees facing Klaus.

"What do you mean?" he inquired with seemingly genuine interest.

She let out a big exhale, considering what she should reveal.

"I get the feeling that in many ways I got the perks of being a vampire without much of the drawbacks. That's all," the girl said finally, opting not to go into specifics. Klaus was being charming to her and appeared to care about her welfare, but honestly, how long would this last? He might even perceive her as a threat once he knew everything. Having an edge was paramount if things came to the worst.

"Ah, you did mention that you have never consumed human blood. I take it you have no problem controlling your thirst then? Would be hard to work among humans otherwise," Klaus speculated.

"No, I've never experienced blood frenzy," the agent confirmed. "I'm not even sure if I have fangs, cold ones don't, just very sharp teeth. One of the reasons I never wanted to drink human blood is that I'm afraid if I taste it once, I won't be able to resist it anymore. Killing people is not an option I could live with, but if I stop before I drain them fully, I might accidentally turn someone into a cold one. That is if my bite is venomous, I can't know that for sure either."

"Well, there is always the option of blood bags," the Original pointed out indifferently. Definitely not his first choice.

"Deer are fine too, even provide a little thrill of hunting. They run faster than humans," Bella smirked at her own remark.

"I guess you are right, though they are not nearly as tasty," he finished in a low predatory whisper befitting of his true nature.

The brunette just shrugged. Convenience or pleasure never factored into her decision regarding her diet.

"Come, I believe we could find a more comfortable place to continue this captivating conversation," Nik eased himself off the floor offering a hand to the girl.

She looked at it for a moment, the scene from Aladdin coming to her mind, when the street boy disguised as a prince, standing on the magic carpet over her balcony, asks Jasmin if she trusted him, before taking her on a ride beyond her wildest dreams.

Disappointment at the prospect of being rejected almost flashed through Klaus's thoughts when finally she placed her hand in his. As he pulled her up, Bella felt blood rushing in her ears and overbalanced, ending up falling against his chest.

The last time anything that even remotely could be considered as clumsiness happened to her was nearly five years ago.


	18. Suspicions and challenges

The dizzy sensation went as fast as it came and Bella stood there in the protective embrace of Klaus, utterly confused. A second later his hands reached for her face, guiding her to look up at him. He gazed at her for several more before speaking.

"I am guessing nothing like this happened to you since turning," he stated, struggling to keep his calm. Vampires didn't lose their balance. Not unless something was affecting them negatively. Venom, vervain, severe injuries. He continued once she shook her head in confirmation. "You might not be as immune as we thought."

Klaus kissed her on the forehead, partly out of tenderness, partly to see if she was running a fever.

"You can let me go, I'm fine now," Bella muttered with a petulant frown, the frustrations of her early life instantly resurfacing.

Tripping, falling, injuries of various sorts. Not being able to take full control of her body was the main reason she missed out on so many childhood activities, like sports. Or friends really. No one wanted her on their team, so she was left to play alone in a corner. She had come to terms with being the odd one out, but the fussing that she received from adults annoyed her immensely because it called attention to her failings.

She  _seemed_  fine, he had to admit, no fever – not yet at least – so he released her as per her request, even if he just wanted to hold onto her as long as he could, maybe even pick her up to whisk her to a bed so that she could rest.

Bella took a few moments to assess herself, paying careful attention to every sensation in her body, flexing her muscles, but everything seemed normal. Well, vampire normal, the same she had felt since beginning her undead existence. Yet something was different, she knew.

"Bella, love…" the Original began with concern when she didn't move or speak for some time.

"I'm fine, really," the brunette sighed, rubbing her face while she tried to come up with an explanation, having none. She couldn't pinpoint what exactly had changed. The fact that was utterly exhausted didn't help matters either.

"You had a long day, maybe you should take it easy for a while," he suggested, his blue-green eyes still not free of the unease.

"Yeah, you're right. The strategy meeting about Lucien can wait until tomorrow," Bella conceded, turning to leave the bathroom. Klaus followed closely after, just to make sure, though there was no sign that she would lose her balance again, her steps were just as graceful as any vampire's.

"Maybe it would be best if I found another solution," the werewolf hybrid mused out loud, with a scowl on his face.

"Klaus. I'm sure you had sifted through all your available options before seeking me out," the agent sternly remarked. Why she was fighting him on this, she didn't know. It would have been better if she was left out of it entirely, but now that she had made a decision her stubborn streak wouldn't let her stop until she followed through.

"That does not mean that there isn't something I have not thought of yet," he said with a smirk because truthfully he loved bantering with her. She always told him like it was, no games, no deceit.

Bella just rolled her eyes. The fact that he escorted her all the way to her room didn't evade her attention either.

"I won't turn into a werewolf too now, will I?" she joked with a laugh as they reached her door. That would have been the ultimate prank of the universe.

"No, it's a genetic trait, triggered by killing someone," Nik stated seriously, not catching onto her sarcasm.

"I know, I was just kidding," the brunette huffed, crossing her arms. "Though there  _was_  a strain of lycanthropy in Europe that spread by bites of werewolves on the full moon. I think they had been driven into extinction by cold ones over a millennium ago. They called them the Children of the Moon. The involuntary, painful transformation on the full moon is a common trait so they could be related. I don't know. I've never seen either species in wolf form before."

"Interesting. What of the offspring of those wolves? Were they infected automatically from birth?" he perked up with interest, wondering why he never heard of them. Not that he actively sought information if it wasn't relevant to one of his schemes.

"I don't know, not even if they were capable of reproduction other than infection. I tried my best to do my homework on the supernatural once I became part of it, but there isn't that much information out there, especially written," Bella shook her head. Admittedly having their world secret from humans was furthered by the lack of scripture but it made it damned well hard to research. Just in the last few days, she ran into problems because of her lack of knowledge despite her efforts.

"Our species can, even if the mother is a triggered werewolf. The transformations stop for those nine months. You know, none of the wolf clans are native to America, some came with Viking settlers, some later. We could very well be descendants of those Europeans wolves for all we know," Klaus sighed. The origins of werewolves were an utter mystery.

"The infection caused a genetically transferable mutation without the contagion factor?" she raised a brow at the assumption.

"Why not? There isn't evidence to the contrary," the original shrugged.

"That's not a scientifically accepted argument," the agent made a face.

"Oh, but haven't you heard? It's magic!" he leaned close to her, whispering in her ear with a childish sense of wonder.

Bella facepalmed herself. That was so cheesy even if mostly true.

"I'm too tired for this. Goodnight, Klaus," Bella stated nonnegotiably, reaching for the door handle.

"Sleep well, love," Niklaus switched back to his ancient and mysterious tone that really reflected his age, all playfulness gone.

"You too," she said before closing the door and disappearing from his sight.

A hot shower seemed like a good idea again, and she began getting ready for bed, pondering on the emotional roller-coaster of the day. Klaus was… a mystery to her. Somehow she couldn't imagine him being this attentive and kind to the people he merely used in his ploys. He did say he didn't realize how she would make him feel when he had come up with the idea of luring her in to handle Lucien… She shook the thought off quickly.

That night she dreamt of wolf puppies skipping about in a lush green forest.

* * *

Gibbs had McGee and DiNozzo come in on Saturday too, their newest case requiring urgency. While Tony was in the basement getting the evidence they had collected to Abby, he had Timothy report to him on what he had found about Bella.

Tim showed the team leader the collected data on his computer instead of the big screen so that no one passing by the bullpen would know what they were working on at first glance.

"Isabella Marie Swan, born September 13, 1990, in Forks, Washington to Charles Swan and Renée Swan neé Higginbotham, currently married to Phillip Dwyer, a minor league baseball player. The father never remarried. No siblings. Mr. Swan had worked in law enforcement his whole life, currently the police chief of the town, her mother had an assortment of jobs, currently a kindergarten teacher. Parents divorced when Bella was six months old. She lived with her mother, in Downey then Riverside, California, later Phoenix, Arizona. At the age of seventeen, she moved back to Forks to live with her father, where she finished high-school. For about a year after that, she had no permanent residence, traveling the country according to her credit card statements, living off the money she had saved up during high-school, working at Newton's Olympic Outfitters, a sports goods and outdoors equipment store in town owned by the parents of one of her classmates. The longest she stayed in one place during that time was Mystic Falls, Virginia, five weeks to be exact. Four months after leaving there she signed up for police training in Washington, D.C. Exemplary test results in every subject as well as with firearms and hand-to-hand combat. She was recruited by NCIS after a joint operation three years ago. Currently, she holds the best solved case ratio at the agency. No complaints or disciplinary actions on her file, both here and at MPD," McGee fired off the hard facts accompanied by the appropriate pictures of everything before Gibbs inevitably would ask to delve into more personal territory.

"Any ex-boyfriends, people who might have a grudge against her?" the team leader inquired since he was fairly certain that whatever made Bella leave town wasn't work-related. Tony kissing her was just a nice excuse to request a transfer. She took that leave before that happened, and the first thing she did was leave town. No, she definitely didn't want someone finding her here. The question was who was she fearful of and why didn't she ask for help?

"I searched her on the web too, the only evidence I could find that she had a partner at all was this picture posted on her school's website of her junior prom, which she attended with one Edward Cullen, a classmate of hers. I've never seen a millennial like her so disconnected from social media. No Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, or any account really. Only a good old email address and a phone. Not even a smartphone at that," Tim ranted on as he brought up the picture. He almost added that she was like a younger female version of Gibbs, but wisely kept quiet.

In the picture a slightly younger looking Bella was standing in a dark blue dress with a crème colored sweater, her hair in carefully crafted curls, smiling shyly at the camera with a tall, copper-haired boy in a black suit with a mega-watt grin on his face. But that wasn't the interesting part of the image. One of her legs was in a full black strap-on cast, and she was wearing converse on the other. Not exactly part of the prom package. You had to wonder why she even went to the dance with an injury like that.

"Maybe she is purposefully trying to make it harder for someone to find her. Do we have information how she broke her leg?" Jethro pointed out. Maybe abusive boyfriend? Him forcing her to the prom would explain why she was there in such a state. For some reason, the guy looked familiar. Where had he seen him?

"Falling down a flight of stairs right into a glass door at a hotel in Phoenix," the computer whiz quickly pulled up the medical records that he had hacked into since they had no warrant to look into them officially. Suspicious that's for sure, a common excuse for domestic abuse, tripping, falling. "Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Edward's father, treated her." Even more suspicious, as if it was a cover-up for something.

"What was she doing there?" It was the end of school year, right in the middle of final exams, three states over.

"Maybe visiting her mom? Or not. Renée was traveling with her husband, staying in Florida at the time. Not to mention why would she stay in a hotel if they had a house in the city?" he said after cross-referencing with her mom's credit cards statements at the time, then checked the hotel bookings from that time period. "Alice Cullen and Jasper Hale had the room along with her in the hotel at the time, adoptive brother and sister of the guy."

"What about Dr. Cullen, or anyone else from the family, where they in Phoenix too?" Maybe it was a trip they brought their son's girlfriend along.

"Yes, but their flight only arrived an hour before the accident, Edward arrived on that plane too. They stayed until she was released from the hospital and all returned to Forks after that," he checked the flight passenger lists swiftly.

She was initially there without the boyfriend but gets into an accident as soon as he arrives? Fishy, very fishy. Didn't sound anything like the Bella they knew. She wasn't clumsy or prone to accidents, but worth a check.

"Pull up Bella's entire medical history, any similar patterns?" Gibbs said on a whim.

"Just a sec… oh, there is, a bunch actually. Cuts, contusions, broken bones all throughout childhood," Tim said with a frown. "All chalked up to some accident on her part. She was either the clumsiest child in the history of earth… or…"

"Are we sure the mother was in Florida?" Jethro inquired, thinking the same. Might have been child abuse after all, she was primarily in her mother's care all her life.

"Yes. She was on a plane to Phoenix the day after the accident," McGee quickly replied after searching the passenger lists around that time inbound to Phoenix from Florida airports. She was ruled out then.

"I know that man," Gibbs finally connected the dots after looking at his driver license picture for a while. "He passed right by us on the sidewalk yesterday when we were coming back from the scene."

What gave him pause is that the guy looked exactly the same, not even a sign of seven years passing. Not that Bella looked much older either, just a bit different, her features were more angular, more chiseled, having lost the adolescent roundness. Her mother seemed to age well, so it might just be a genetic trait. This Edward character on the other hand… looked unnatural somehow. Not many things gave Gibbs the creeps, but this did.

"Do you think he is stalking her?" the younger agent inquired in bewilderment.

Any other reasonable explanation why he happened to be walking right next to his ex-girlfriend's supposed place of work, with the look on his face screaming that he was on the verge of killing someone? Maybe wanting to finish the job he couldn't all those years ago? But Gibbs didn't go there. He needed facts, not theories.

"Do a full background check, I want to know everything about the entire family! Talk to her father if you have to, just find out what happened between those two."

* * *

Klaus got an early start to his day, already making calls. He wanted answers, and he wanted them yesterday, preferably before he had bit Bella. Her dizzy spell couldn't have been a freak coincidence, happening right after introducing werewolf venom to her system. The most reliable place to seek answers regarding magical issues were witches. The Original tried Davina first, directly after he had discovered that Freya had nothing in the way of solutions. Having been in a magical coma for the better part of the last millennium meant that most of her magic was old school, though not in any way less powerful, and she was still learning the new developments of her field. These interspecies things were definitely new to the oldest Mikaelson sibling.

"It's not my problem," she said. The witch was trying to find a way to resurrect Kol like she had promised, but she wasn't making any headway and definitely didn't want or need the distractions.

After a bit of unfruitful back and forth, the Original was seething inside and wanted to threaten the girl, to use someone against her so that she would act in his interest instead of her own. That had been his modus operandi for centuries. Yet he hesitated. He knew Bella wouldn't want him to do that.

"Fine, I will have to deal with it on my own then," he snarled into the phone, then in a last fit of rage threw it across the room, shattering the device on the wall into a million little pieces, accompanied by a frustrated growl. He hated feeling weak, not in control.

Bella was just coming down the stairs in time to hear the end and the aftermath of that conversation. She had decided to go comfy for the day since she had no exact plans to leave the compound, wearing grey leggings, a white T-shirt and an overly large teal hoodie that reached almost to her mid-thigh, her hair in a messy top-bun. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking hesitantly in the direction where the noises of Klaus's fury had come from.

"I wouldn't go in there when he gets like that," Rebekah walked up to her from the other end of the atrium, casting apprehensive glances in the same direction. "You might just get staked."

Bella wasn't awfully worried about that, having learned that wood couldn't penetrate her body, but didn't say a thing, just kept watching the door, as if expecting Klaus to emerge any second. She couldn't help but wonder if this was somehow about her. If she really wanted to, she could have eavesdropped on the conversation, but the shouting had only penetrated her consciousness when she stepped out of her room.

"Look, what you said about us girls sticking together and self-defense… could you… maybe teach me?" the blonde inquired falteringly after a few moments of awkward silence.

The agent turned to look at her, trying to discern the cause for her sudden change in attitude. Based on what she knew about the Original girl, Bella didn't take her for the apologizing type, yet this somehow felt like one. Or it could be a trap, a way to humiliate her, and maybe, later on, she would use whatever techniques learned against her.

"Sure," Bella said finally since she was fairly confident that she could handle whatever the Barbie Doll would want to pull on her, and if it was a genuine offer at making peace then it wouldn't be wise to ignore it. "You might want to change into something more comfortable though," she added as she appraised her outfit of white designer blouse, tight leather pants, and stiletto high heels, her hair in a windswept magnificence worthy of a runway.

"I suppose," Rebekah agreed half-heartedly after giving herself a once over. She disappeared at vampire speed, returning a few seconds later in a similar get up as Bella wearing.

"Do you guys have a gym or something?" the hybrid girl asked.

"Not really, but the atrium is fine, it's quite spacious," blondie suggested with a shrug.

"Alright," the agent said after careful thought. She didn't like the fact that everyone got to watch. It still made her self-conscious, even if there wasn't any reason to be ashamed of the way she moved anymore.  _Force of habit, I guess._  She walked to the middle of the open space before turning back to the other girl. "Show me how you would normally attack someone stronger than you."

Rebekah charged, fast and nimble but pretty straightforward. The brunette could see her intentions from a mile away, and she had plenty of time to meet her with her own vampire speed. Bella did a very simple aikido side-step move to channel away her attacker's energy, grabbed her arm in the process and with an elegant twirl had the original immobilized. Though Bella was smaller than her opponent, the way she had Bekah's arm pinned to her back had the blonde struggling for balance, her back arched, forcing her to stand on her tippy toes. The agent released her quickly afterward since power demonstration wasn't the point of this session.

"The problem is that you go in with full-on brute force and no technique," Bella assessed with no malice just sheer observation. "That might work against inexperienced weaker opponents, or if you manage to catch a stronger one by surprise. But the moment you face someone trained in some form of martial arts, they could take you on even if they are weaker than you. Of course, there can't be that big of a gap mind you. You also start facing problems once you have to take multiple opponents."

"But you are stronger than me, of course, you can take me on," Rebekah huffed, perturbed by the easy defeat.

"If you noticed I barely exerted any energy in that move. I used your momentum against you," the agent smiled.

"So what do I do?" she asked, genuinely curious and wanting to learn. They spent the next few minutes practicing that one move, Bella mock attacking her. She could have easily broken out of the hold, knowing the techniques to counteract it, but she was definitely not showing the other girl that yet, not until she could trust her more.

From the corner of her eye, Bella noticed that they had gained an audience. Klaus and Elijah were watching from the sidelines.

"This is nice and all, but wouldn't it be kind of dangerous letting your enemy attack first? Can't you teach me something that I could take the initiative with?" the blonde inquired after a while when she felt she had the hang of it already.

"Ah, well, that wouldn't be self-defense, would it?" Bella smirked conspiratorially. She had a feeling that this wasn't exactly about learning how to defend herself anyway.

Then Nik began clapping. "Quite the performance, love. Say, how would you fare against more than one experienced opponent?" he looked at his brother with a beckoning smirk, suggesting that they should get to have a go at their guest as well.

"Now this will be interesting," Elijah smiled back, undoing his tie and removing his suit jacket in preparation.

Bella removed her sweater, giving them a glimpse of her toned stomach before she pulled her shirt back down, anticipating that this would be a bit more of a workout. The boys planted themselves in basic fight stances about ten feet from her on either side.

Bekah had joined Freya at the other end by the kitchen entrance, on the side where Elijah was standing, eager to watch. Her older sister cast a brief worried, questioning glance at her.

"Don't worry, she can handle herself," the younger sister commented when she noticed the witch's concern.

"There is no way she could simultaneously take on two Originals," she pointedly remarked, regarding them carefully as they took their places.

"Do you want to bet?" Rebekah offered with a laugh.

"You are on, Lil'Sis," Freya agreed. "A hundred dollars that she would not make it to two minutes with them."

"Whenever you are ready, boys," Bella smirked, hearing the conversation of the other two girls clearly.

Klaus was the one to attack first and the agent whipped in his direction to divert the incoming punch. She grabbed his arm, yanked it to the side just as Elijah came up behind her. Bella placed a backward kick right in his solar plexus, sending him staggering back from the force.

The werewolf hybrid recovered quickly, rounding his other arm for an elbow hit. The brunette ducked and swept his feet from under him with a low round kick. The older brother had already regained his footing and came at her again, and she threw him over her shoulder, right into Klaus who was about to stand up.

Rebekah noticed that during the whole thing – that barely lasted a second given their speed – Bella barely moved an inch from her initial position yet she had the brothers dancing to her tune, like a puppet-master tugging the marionettes on a string. They were scrambling to find some sort of hold on her but never found one, worse yet, she had been using them against each other to take them out. To think that Klaus single handedly matched more than ten vampires from Marcel's gang – with more there as back up – when they had arrived back to New Orleans three years ago, and now he was having problems with a single girl! With Elijah there helping to boot! True he only managed to overpower them after letting his wolf side loose.

As if reading her thoughts the werewolf hybrid let out a frustrated growl and bared his fangs, his eyes turning black and gold, upping his speed and strength another notch.

"Stop evading and fight me for real," he said with a sadistically eager smile, blocking his brother with one arm, gesturing for him to stay back and to let him handle it.

"Oh, I am, believe me," Bella giggled but changed her stance anyway to another fighting style. She hadn't had this much fun a while. "Just didn't want to hurt you."

That pushed his buttons, and he let out an animalistic snarl as he charged again. And this was precisely the agent's intention, goading him into acting rashly, fueled by anger.

This time instead of just channeling away his momentum, she met him punch for punch, kick for kick, except the payback was double or triple, and Klaus never laid a hand on her, she blocked them all. In true Krav Maga style, she went for a thigh kick then sent quick successive punches into his shoulder as he was coming down. They hurt like hell, needless to say.

He somehow managed to grab onto her arm, twirling her around. He almost let out a triumphant yell, believing that he finally had her as he pinned her in a chokehold with her back flush against him. Bella kicked back at his shin then threw him over her shoulder as his grip loosened on her, reaching for the fabric of his shirt around his right biceps with one hand, hooking her other arm under his on the same side for purchase.

"Are you quite done yet?" Bella asked, leaning over his head when he stayed down.

"Do they really teach techniques like that at the police academy?" he asked with a frown. She was evidently stronger and more trained than he had anticipated.

"Well, yes and no. I went and learned about half a dozen other fighting styles after that, incorporating parts of them into my own." Aikido being her favorite of them all since she could use it without worrying about injuring her opponent too much since she was only using her their strength and momentum against them, not her own. Of course, she still had to pay attention not to grab them with too much force, since she could easily crush the bones of a human with one wrong move.

"What for?" the man on the floor laughed. "I mean, I cannot imagine human criminals giving you any trouble in detaining them."

"No, they don't," the agent furrowed her brows for a moment. It was a daily struggle not to let her superior strength slip, and that included making sure that her skills were believable. Something being humanly possible didn't mean that a girl of her build should be able to pull it off, no matter how great shape they were in. "But I figured sooner or later I'll have the supernatural world coming to take a bite out of my ass."

And since she had had no comparison before she had always thought that she was weaker than anyone else among vampires, hence her intense desire to build up skill to compensate.

"That reminds me, how had you not killed anyone by sheer accident?" the Original asked, wanting to distract her. She was letting her guard down, and he had a plan. They hadn't agreed to the match to be over yet.

"By holding back. Obviously," she rolled her eyes. "This was the first time I got to utilize them at full strength. So thank you. It was a lot of fun."

"Fun is not the word I would use for this," Klaus grimaced then suddenly reached above his head to pull her legs out from under her.

The brunette arched her back and landed on her hands, wanting to launch herself back into a standing position, but he had a firm grip on her legs and pulled her back down before she could twist them out. Her breath was knocked out of her as she thumped down on the floor on her back, the original on top of her, pinning her down within a fraction of a second. His elation only lasted a moment because Bella kicked him off to the side, changing the tables on him, now her straddling him.

"That was cheap," the brunette pouted as she leaned in close, holding his hands firmly above his head.

"All is fair in love and war, sweetheart," he winked at her, bucking her off. Instead of losing her balance she rolled off in a graceful somersault and even managed to flip him over and pulling him with her in the process because she never let go of his forearms.

"Oh, yeah? Which one do you suppose this is?" Bella laughed as she got his head in a chokehold between her thighs. There was nothing he could do about it, he was utterly trapped.

"Surprisingly much more fun than before," Klaus smirked at her even though his face was starting to redden with the effort of trying to free himself.

"Khm… I think that's enough," Elijah cleared his throat after a few moments, purposefully not looking at them.

"Right," Bella released him quickly, sitting back on her heels, her face heating up with embarrassment. The whole thing must have seemed like weird foreplay or something.

"I think it's time for you to pay up," Rebekah held her palm up with a smirk to her sister.

"You bet against me, Sister? You wound me," Niklaus grabbed at his heart melodramatically as he sat up, not having heard their wager beforehand, too preoccupied with his lovely Bella and how he was going to take her down. Didn't work out exactly like he had hoped.

"Sorry, Nik, but I've already got a taste of what she is capable of, there was no way I was betting against that," the blond girl quipped back as Freya handed her the hundred dollar bill.

Elijah raised his brow at his sister, recalling catching the girls in the kitchen last night. That wasn't a friendly show of skills after all, but Bekah just shook her head at him not to inquire further. Klaus might have taken it the wrong way, especially if he learned why Bella had resorted to restraining her, and the Original wasn't sure whose side he would take. Not to mention that hopefully, they had mended their differences already, no need to test the werewolf hybrid's infamous temper.

Niklaus thankfully didn't catch that side note and just assumed that she was talking about the little training session before they had butted in to challenge Bella.

"I believe it is time to have that strategy talk now," he announced as he jumped to his feet, offering a hand to the brunette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * I know Bella was born in 1987 in canon but to fit the timelines better I'm taking creative liberties here :D


	19. Beauty and the Beast

"I was wondering…" Bella began as they settled themselves around the dining table. "If Lucien is so overpowered, why hasn't he tried anything yet?"

"He had been running cunning and deceptive ploys against us for some time now, killing wolves in the bayou through a shadow company, and just generally sticking it to us wherever he could without us realizing it was him all along," Elijah started first.

"But ever since he had become the Beast…" Klaus continued with a grimace as he recalled the various attacks on his family in the last few weeks.

"I'm sorry. The what?" the brunette interrupted since she hadn't heard that term before.

"Upgraded Original vampire. It's just easier with the short-hand," Rebekah amended helpfully.

"Anyhow, ever since then, he had become more openly hostile, but he enjoys toying with us, planning to kill us off slowly, one by one. He started by going after people we care about," the werewolf hybrid resumed, seething inside with anger at the vampire whom he had turned first.

"Right. Camille. My condolences," the agent solemnly said, again reminded that Klaus's primary motivation was avenging his love. Because he had loved her very dearly, she could see that. Maybe it never evolved into an actual relationship – for whatever reason, she didn't know – but that didn't change the bond they had shared.

"Also Finn before that, proving that he could kill an Original with his bite and that my blood was just as useless as a glass of water in treating it," Klaus commented darkly. Though there was no love lost for Finn. He had aligned himself with their mother, Esther, against them one too many times.

An Original dying meant that all their sires died along with them. The vampire hybrid hadn't known that Finn had been deceased before, and had been resurrected not long prior to his second demise. That did not bring his sires back, so they didn't perish twice over. In either case, the thought was horrifying, vampires across the planet suddenly ceasing to exist without any warning.

"Wait a minute, isn't Lucien sired to you? If he kills you, he dies with you… along with all the rest of the vampires in your sire line…" Bella trailed off as the realization hit her. Dammit, Damon was also from Klaus's sire line, and that meant Caroline and her too. Would she be affected? Would her cold one side save her if it came to the worst?

"The sire bond is unlinked. Klaus and Elijah were trapped on an astral plane and the only way I found to rescue their minds was through a spell utilizing Lucien, his oldest sire. The bond broke in the process. That was before he became the Beast, of course," Freya spoke up this time, a grim look on her face.

"I'm not sure if I should be glad or terrified," the agent sighed, rubbing her face exasperatedly. Not having to worry about Damon and everyone else was a plus, but damn. She needed to end it before the Beast got a chance at Klaus like never before. "So what is the plan?"

"Freya has been working on a spell to strip him of his new powers, return him to a normal vampire. The problem is we can't match him in either speed or strength until that happens. That's why we had the compound's deed signed over to her so that this would be a safe haven until we can make a move," Klaus explained their progress so far.

"But I can! Wouldn't ripping his heart out work? That method is effective against any other vampire, even Originals. Just no one is – was – strong enough do to it until now," Bella perked up, finding a niche in the plan. "Plus cold one venom could be just as potent against him as his against you," she amended recalling Klaus's adverse reaction. Maybe she could trick him into biting her on her hand. If nothing else it could weaken him for a while, giving them a window to act. And what if… she  _was_ venomous? Biting him might be a wise course of action too.

"That might actually work," Elijah nodded, satisfied with that angle.

"Absolutely not," the werewolf hybrid shot them down decisively.

"Nik, it has been your idea to bring her here for exactly this reason, speculating that cold ones might be a chink in his armor since no one ever thinks about warding against them," Rebekah cast an annoyed glance at her brother.

"I cannot risk her like that. If Lucien bites her… she nearly fainted yesterday when I did," he practically growled. The werewolf venom the Beast had was seven times more potent.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration, don't you think? And I was fine a second later. Werewolf venom doesn't affect me as it does other vampires," the brunette informed the others, carefully excluding her weird dream. Otherwise, she  _was_  fine.

"Wait, you bit her? And she didn't need your blood to heal?" the Original in the black suit gaped, astounded by that revelation.

"No, I didn't. The wound closed on its own just fine," Bella told them, pointedly ignoring Klaus's displeased grunts.

"Well, I think that is our answer then," Elijah leaned back in his chair, deeming the issue closed.

"When are we doing this?" the agent inquired, now itching to get the whole thing over with.

"Tonight would be best with the full moon, so the wolves are at their strongest," Klaus begrudgingly said, seeing that his protests found deaf ears, especially Bella's. She was dead set on helping in whatever way she could.

"Can they control themselves in that form?" the brunette raised a brow. From what she had read about werewolves they went savage on the full moon, attacking anything and everything they could. What would ensure that they didn't turn on them?

"Hayley is a hybrid, so she turns at will, or not at all, and still retains her strength, and through the sacred union she had with Jackson, their alpha, that gift is shared with the rest of the wolves in the bayou," he revealed, still in a sour mood. From the corner of her eye, she saw Elijah frown at the mention of the girl. Not out of malice, more like concern.

"What about Hope?" Bella dared to ask. Knowing wolf psychology, the alpha fought with the pack, and she got the distinct feeling that Hayley might be the one wearing the pants in the house, so to speak. She didn't want to endanger the mother of his daughter if it wasn't necessary.

"Some of the older wolves will stay behind, she will be with family," Niklaus got up from the table, fishing his phone out to inform the pack about the plan.

"Oh, alright, but shouldn't… Hayley stay with her?" the vampire hybrid inquired looking between the brothers.

"You'll find that Hayley is not so easy to be reasoned with. She will want to fight with us to ensure her daughter's future and safety," Elijah murmured fondly, Nik taking his exit to make that call.

 _Oh, so this is how it is! What a love triangle!_ Though Klaus had said before that it was a one-time thing with the wolf girl that resulted in an unexpected pregnancy – because seriously who would have guessed that he was capable of reproducing, being a vampire, dead and all? – finding out that the other Mikaelson brother harbored romantic feelings for her was something else. But now she was married to the pack alpha? That must have stung. Not to mention awkward.

"Do we know where Lucien is hiding out, or are we having him come to us?" Bella asked, going onto the next point in the strategy that should be decided.

"I think our hand was just forced in that regard," Klaus burst back in, barely keeping a lid on his anger. "Lucien is at the bayou this very moment, going after my daughter. They had barricaded themselves in the hut. It seems Hope put up an involuntary barrier that is strong enough to keep him out for a while, but many of the wolves are outside, defenseless."

"What, how? Isn't she just… like a year old?" the vampire hybrid jumped up from the table with the rest of them, everyone scattering to gather whatever they needed to face off their nemesis. Witches didn't usually show signs of their power until their pre-teen years.

"Fourteen months to be exact. She is the descendant of very powerful witches. Our mother created the immortality spell that made us who we are. And our aunt… well, let's not get into Dahlia. Hope had shown bursts of magic since she was just a few months old," the werewolf hybrid smirked despite himself, very proud of his talented daughter.

"Amazing," Bella managed to breathe as they reached the back alley they would use to move through the city inconspicuously in broad daylight. Elijah and Rebekah were close behind them, the girl having changed from her workout clothes.

"Freya, you stay here and keep working on that spell just in case," Klaus told his older half-sister over his shoulder. "Come out to the bayou if you find something. Here's the key."

He threw his car keys to her since Freya didn't have their enhanced speed. She just nodded.

"Are you seriously coming in that?" Rebekah asked dubiously from Bella as they started running. She was still in leggings, a T-shirt and running shoes, no make-up, hair in an even messier messy bun than before from the tussling with the brothers.

"Why would I dress up for a battle and possible bloodbath? My clothes would just get ruined anyway," the agent quipped back in the same tone, a hint of an amused smile dancing at the corner of her lips.

"I guess… you have a point there," the blonde conceded with a grimace. Some of her favorite clothes had become victims of similar skirmishes in the past.

Elijah just buried his face in his palm, while Klaus fought very hard not to laugh. The situation was just too dire for that.

* * *

They made it to the wetlands at the outskirts of the city in no time, all of them running at full speed. Except for Bella. She noticed that she still wasn't at her limit, which was a promising sign. The Originals had believed that Hope would be safe there – not trusting that the protections around the compound would hold indefinitely, it being an obvious target – but Lucien somehow found out and managed to track them down in the bayou, not that hard a feat once he knew to look there. Raised the question whether they had a mole. Klaus instantly suspected Marcel.

Bella sped up and arrived a fraction earlier than the rest, just in time to witness the Beast get past the barrier the little girl had put up. She rushed at Lucien, kicking him out of the way with a well-placed jump before he could enter the hut, catching him by surprise.

"Take Hope and run!" Klaus yelled to Rebekah, rushing to Bella's side.

She was now at a standoff with his first sire, who regarded them with predatory malice, having recovered already. The wolves – at least the ones who weren't dead yet – gathered behind the hybrids in human form but having triggered their fangs.

"Are you all right?" Elijah rushed into the hut to Hayley just as Rebekah ran out in haste with her niece, heading back to the compound.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I want to murder that son of a bitch," the mother seethed, stomping out of the hut, dark brown hair billowing behind her, her eyes already turning gold-black. Both of them joined Klaus and Bella.

"Klaus, Klaus, Klaus," Lucien tutted mockingly. "Having teeny tiny girls as bodyguards now? What good will it do for you? You know, no matter how many you bring against me, you still can't win."

He entirely missed the fact that Bella was different, or what it actually meant that she had successfully sent him flying fifty yards.

"We will see about that," Hayley snarled and ran at him, her judgment clouded by the motherly protective instinct for her daughter.

"No!" Klaus yelled at her, but there was no stopping her.

The Beast instantly plunged his hand into her chest, grabbing at her heart. Hayley groaned in pain, realizing her heated mistake too late. The wolves converged on him instinctively, but all that accomplished was Lucien swiping them to the side and knocking them out with ease, even with only one free arm. Not to mention that the movement caused ever greater suffering for the queen of the wolves since her muscles and blood vessels ripped further in her chest.

"Quite befitting end to this game, don't you think? The queen and the king defeated by a mere pawn," the man spat, almost like a scorned woman.

"What would you prove by killing her? It's me you hate," Niklaus tried to reason with him.

"You surely have realized by now, that I don't care who dies! I literally have her life in my hands, do you really want to test the limits of my patience? Or mercy for that matter? Bow down before me!" he taunted Klaus with that wicked grin, beckoning him to bow before him.

Before anyone could react, Bella lunged at Lucien again, grabbing his free hand and twisting it back and holding a pressure point that made him reflexively open up his other palm. Anything else might have made him rip Hayley's heart out instinctively, but it also left her vulnerable because she couldn't do anything else while she concentrated on applying the right amount of pressure until someone rescued the girl. As Elijah swooped in and took his wounded love away, the Beast turned his attention to Bella and kicked her off that sent her flying into a tree. Her breath was knocked out of her on impact for a second, but she was planning on getting right back up and attacking, only to see Klaus beating her to it, fueled by rage, running straight into his death.

The brunette could see in the sadistic grin of Lucien that this was precisely what he had wanted, and he was going to bite him, no further questions asked. Bella sprinted at full speed, not bothering to yell out a warning or anything, and pushed Klaus out of the way just a fraction of a second not too late. Her right side was left wide open, not having enough time to turn to meet Lucien's attack up front, and the Beast bit her mercilessly right in the neck. There was nothing pleasurable about the experience this time around. There was no caring or desire there. Well, if you didn't count bloodlust, the desire to kill.

Bella twisted herself out, feeling the ripping of her neck muscles in the process, since he hadn't let go with his teeth, and brought her left elbow up to squarely hit Lucien in his temple. It connected, even left the man staggering a bit.

The agent didn't waste time with checking her wound to see how bad it was bleeding, she trusted her healing to take care of it. Instead, she went after the Upgraded Original vampire, taking advantage of the opening left by his astonishment with the fact that she was able to match his strength and speed. Eye for an eye, one would say, she retaliated with biting him hard on the right side of his neck.

He let out a guttural scream as if something was burning him. And maybe that was exactly what was happening, cold one venom had that effect on people as the transformation began. She was venomous after all. Bella let go of him a second later, spitting out whatever blood was in her mouth. She absolutely did not want any part of this monster inside of her. The brunette plunged her right hand through his torso for good measure.

Until this point, she hadn't had time to look up, but now she saw that around the bite wound that he had received from her, his flesh was starting to turn into stone, spreading outward like a disease at a humanly visible pace.

"Please… no…" Lucien pleaded in a pathetic tone, the conceited, arrogant demeanor all gone.

Bella looked at him bewilderedly as she tried to catch her breath.

"Are you for real?" she grimaced at him.  _What a coward!_

His eyes wandered to the side, and the agent noticed from the corner of her eye that Klaus came to stand beside him, playing with a shard of glass in his hand. What was he planning? Maybe it wasn't his impending doom that had Lucien frightened after all.

"I've had about a thousand years too much from you," Klaus began in a cold-hearted tone that even had Bella chilled to the bone even though they were not meant for her. "For a century, you lived with my name, and you never did quite recover from losing it, did you? You became a man of wealth and stature, but you never could crawl out of my shadow. And in the end... despite the gift of immortality, you have always known what you truly are."

"Please…" the Beast pleaded still.

The Original hybrid began cutting his mouth up in Glasgow grin fashion, much like the Joker in Batman. "You... are... nothing."

Bella deemed this was well enough emotional torture and humiliation for someone about to die, no matter what they had done in the past – having no idea what the significance of this little act was – and she swiftly ripped his heart out, not waiting for Klaus's prompting. The spreading of the petrification stopped, but his entire body turned greyish with protruding veins as it dropped before her.

The adrenalin rush was wearing off quickly, and she staggered back a few feet, the reality of her actions setting in. Bella was still holding that heart, and she let it fall from her shaky hand with disgust, just as Klaus began to set Lucien's body on fire.

 _I just killed someone._  Even if he was a bloodthirsty – in every sense of the word – vampire, who would have gladly killed her while laughing in her face if he got the chance, that realization hit her hard. Before this she had always managed to catch the culprits alive, secretly using compulsion to get them to submit if no one was looking, but she was also good at placing shots in non-lethal but incapacitating spots on the body.

Darkness began to envelop her. "Klaus…" she managed to weakly whisper before collapsing.

The Original whipped around to see what was wrong and barely managed to get to her and catch her in time.

"Bella!" he frantically called her name, holding her close and trying to assess her condition.

The bite wound on her neck was severe, she had lost some blood too, but it was already starting to heal, albeit slowly. Distraught and worried, he gathered her up in his arms in bridal style and disappeared into the woods to bring her back to compound.

Lucien's heart lay there among the leaves forgotten, a pair of sneakers walking up to it.

Marcel bent down to examine the cardiac organ, then he produced a small vial from the pocket of his hoodie and squeezed the remainder of the blood from it into the container.

* * *

Hours passed, and darkness descended upon the city of jazz yet again, allowing creatures of the night, restrained by the sunlight, to roam free again. Edward had caught the red-eye from D.C. to New Orleans yesterday, getting himself a hotel room near the airport. One thing became evident to him instantly. The city was crawling with vampires and other supernatural creatures. Everything reeked. The smell was quite different from cold ones that much he could tell.

Based on the information he had, the NCIS office was located in the French Quarter, so he began looking there first. The stench was definitely stronger in that part of the town. Unsurprisingly that was also where he had run into Bella's essence again, right there at the gate of her new workplace. He followed the trail, twisting and turning around side streets, doubling back on a weird path that made him wonder what exactly his love was doing, taking this route. Eventually, he happened upon a large brick building with a white wooden entrance.

Bella had spent some time there in the past two days he was sure. Also quite certain that there were other vampires inside, even at that very moment. The place was quiet though, no chatter to eavesdrop on. He even believed to hear signs of people sleeping. Did vampires sleep? Or they had human guests?

Then there was a bed creaking, the noise of a door opening and closing, feminine footsteps through a hallway, another door.

 _"_ _Why isn't she waking up? It's been eight hours already,"_  a man suddenly asked the person entering the room.

 _"_ _Just give her time, she is breathing fine. The wound closed already too,"_  a female voice answered.

 _"_ _I hope you are right. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself otherwise,"_  the previous person darkly commented.

 _"_ _Try to get some sleep, you had a long day."_  And with that, the woman left.

That conversation had Edward puzzled, and that was when he realized that he didn't hear the thoughts of those two. He heard the dreams of a baby girl and her mother loud and clear though.

The house seemed like a fortress, much too dangerous to enter on his own, even if no one was on guard, which he doubted. Edward decided that now was not the time to seek his love out, he would have to catch her alone if he wanted to have his heart to heart.

He could abide his time until Monday, she would surely be easier to catch without vampire company after work before she returned to this place.

His phone started to ring for like the fiftieth time. It was Alice again. She and others from the family had been calling him practically non-stop since he had decided to come to New Orleans. Whatever she saw about Bella possibly rejecting him, he did not care. He had to actually hear it from her.

* * *

"Dammit, he is still not picking up!" Alice groaned in frustration.

They barely made it home to Ithaca with Jasper when she had a vision that the feds would start poking around into their background, triggered by Edward getting spotted lurking around the Navy Yard in D.C. by Bella's boss on Friday. He made the connection to that one high-school photo of the two of them at prom, thus learning Edward's name. A relationship six years into the past wouldn't have caught their attention otherwise. The whole thing would blow up even further in the morning when they would learn that he went to New Orleans, assuming that he was stalking Bella. Which he kind of was. And she was a federal agent, with people having her back, even when she didn't ask for it.

They had to disappear from the human world for a while and set up new identities after the heat subsided. Alice even had to warn the Denalis because they had been in fairly regular phone contact over the past years and the phone records would be checked first. Their various nomad friends were safe though as far as she could tell. The family packed their stuff up in no time since they were practically leaving everything behind, their identities compromised and all, they were only waiting for Alice to try one last time contacting Edward. Everyone else had tried as well, but he was stubbornly not taking their calls.

"Alice, we have to go. You said they will be here before noon tomorrow and we have to be far away by then," Rosalie strutted up behind her, beckoning her adoptive sister to get moving. "You can keep calling from the car."

"No, I can't. We have to leave this phone because it will be tracked, and if I try calling him from the new one that will be tracked too," the seer whined, wanting desperately to warn her brother of the danger that awaits them. If NCIS gets any closer to the truth, the Volturi might hear about it and then they are all doomed.

"He can handle himself," the tall blonde rolled her eyes, exasperatedly annoyed with the whole situation. She couldn't believe Bella was still fucking up their life after all this time.

And with that they left into the night, switching cars several times, running on some parts of the journey before getting another one.

* * *

_In a lush forest with swampy areas – that Bella now recognized as the bayou – two identical looking boys, appearing to be about the age of ten, were playing merrily, chasing each other, laughter echoing between the trees in their wake._

_"_ _Renly, Carter!" Bella called after the mischievous runts worriedly. "Don't stray beyond where I can see you!"_

_"_ _Love, with our senses there is no way to lose the boys in the forest," Klaus chuckled at her over-protective motherliness._

_"_ _That's not what I'm worried about!" the brunette huffed quietly with an angry stare, making sure her voice was low enough for the little ones not to hear. "You know as well as I do that Marcel is still out there, wanting revenge for Davina."_

_"_ _And they are wolves who can shapeshift at will and are immune to werewolf venom," the original quipped back._

_"_ _They are also kids, who could be kidnapped, traumatized for life, used as leverage against us!"_

_His_ _laidback attitude with the boys was infuriating to her. Hope, his little princess, his first, was coddled to no end even though_ she _was a practicing witch already, capable of bringing anyone to their knees by a mere look even though she was just three years old._

_Except for_ _Bella, of course, she was immune, though the toddler never wanted to mess with her step-mother to begin with. They had become fast friends actually on first-sight when she was merely a one-year-old._

_"_ _And you are a momma bear no one would dare to mess with, even if they dared to mess with me," he stated with a smirk, not minding one bit that his wife was more powerful than he was._

_"_ _You are such an idiot! I'm being serious!" Bella smacked him on the arm._

_"_ _I am too…" Klaus trailed off because the surprised cry out of Carter snapped them to attention. Bella was already sprinting at full speed, nimbly avoiding the trees, to see what was wrong, Klaus following close behind._

_They found Carter at the bottom of a little hill, in wolf form, sandy blond colored, just like his dad's hair. It was funny how their hair was dark brown like their mom's in human form though. His clothes were scattered around, shredded to pieces, the surprise of the fall having triggered the transformation. He was yipping in dismay at Renly, who was still at the top, laughing his ass off at his twin brother. Motherly instinct told her that her playful – though others might say naughty – older boy (even if by just minutes) was the reason his younger brother was down there in the first place._

_"_ _Renly Mikaelson! Stop that this instant!" Bella chided sternly as she trod down the hill to check on her other son._

_Her tone caused him to yelp and bite back the laugh, and as a result, he poofed into an identical wolf like the one at the bottom of the hill, right there by his father's side, his garments shredding just the same._

_The Original werewolf just laughed amusedly at their antics._

_"_ _Good thing you have lived for a thousand years and accumulated a massive fortune, Klaus, because we would be broke in two seconds with the rate these two go through clothes," the vampire hybrid shook her head with mirth when she realized her son was alright. And she wasn't just talking about the involuntary transformations, the boys have not yet learned enough self-control to prevent them. Strictly speaking, they were only two years old, but the odd mixture of werewolf, vampire (Original and otherwise), untapped witch and cold one genetics left them growing at alarming rates. It seemed they needed new shoes, shirts or jeans every week because they had outgrown the last set._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some dialogue in the bayou between Klaus and Lucien is taken directly or paraphrased from Originals 3x20 episode.


	20. Sleeping Beauty awakens

McGee uneasily hurried up the steps to the porch of his boss's house on this balmy early Sunday morning. To say that he was bringing troubling news was putting it rather mildly. He had stayed in late – all night actually – at HQ to double check every last detail in the background information on the Cullen family.  _If_  that was indeed their name. He pushed the button for the doorbell.

"Door's open!" came Gibbs's gruff voice from the inside.

As Tim entered the utilitarian home, he spotted his team leader in the kitchen… making coffee. What else were you expecting? He wasn't the homely type. He even drank whiskey from jars in his basement on occasion. The same place where he also worked on building boats, which would never make it out on the water in one piece, since there was only a narrow staircase leading down there. When he finished one, he would take it apart, then start a new project.

"What've you got?" he asked, placing a cup of coffee in front of his subordinate at the kitchen table, out of hospitality.

"Bad news, Boss. Edward Cullen boarded a plane late last night to New Orleans," Tim wanted to apologize for only catching that piece of fact that morning since he had been busy crosschecking their information in various databases, but Gibbs didn't leave him a chance. And besides, Rule 6. Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness.h

"That son of a bitch!" the team leader cursed, imagining the worst. How did he even find out about her location? So soon nonetheless! Did they have a leak somewhere? Did he hire a private investigator? Then why come in person to the Navy Yard? He must have found out then and there that Bella wasn't in town anymore since he boarded a plane just a few hours later. But how did he find out? "Have you tried calling Swan?" What if she was assaulted, kidnapped… or worse. The girl could handle herself, don't get him wrong, but with the element of surprise even the best could get into a pinch.

"She is not picking up," McGee shook his head, having tried that several times already on his way here.

"Dammit. Keep trying, I'll call Pride and have them search for her on site if she still doesn't pick up in ten minutes. Did you check her cards, where is she staying in the city?" Jethro hurried to get dressed in jeans and a shirt instead of the sweats he was wearing around the house.

"Yes, but found nothing," Tim dejectedly shook his head again. That left cash and motels, or maybe she had acquaintances in the city, and someone was putting her up.

"Let's get moving, fill me in on the way to HQ," he said when he was ready, and they were fast out the door.

"Should I call Tony?" the younger agent dared to ask in a small voice.

"No," Gibbs said after a moment of consideration. "So what were you able to find out about the Cullens?" he asked once they were in the car, Tim constantly trying to call Bella, alternatingly from his and Gibbs's phone.

"Actually, I'm not sure, Boss," McGee frowned as he fired up his notebook on his lap.

"What do you mean you are not sure?" the older man raised a brow at that statement.

"The thing is, I found a perfectly crafted backstory for Dr. Carlisle Cullen, Esme Cullen, Rosalie Hale, Emmett Cullen, Jasper Hale, Alice Cullen and Edward Cullen. I can read it to you if you want, but I think it's fake. A very professional fake, mind you, made me wonder if someone with federal clearance actually set it up," the computer whiz ranted on while he opened the appropriate files.

"How do you know it's fake?" Gibbs inquired glancing at him briefly before looking back on the road.

"I went and checked the metafiles, to see when the information was actually added to the system, and all of the entries before they moved to Forks originated on one date, a little over nine years ago," Tim revealed with a serious face.

"Could they be in witness protection or something?" the senior agent speculated. That is when they usually saw stuff like this. Somehow he couldn't imagine them being undercover operatives, there was nothing of interest in Forks.

"Me poking around in their data would have raised a red flag and FBI would have called by now," he pointed out. That has happened to them before.

"Okay, then just tell me the basics and the parts after they moved to Forks," Jethro told him, guessing that the information from that time period had to be at least partially real since they had evidence that they lived there for some time.

"We seemingly have a young couple, with five adoptive children, all teenagers. There is barely twelve years between the parents and the oldest if the birthdates are to be believed. The doctor worked at the little hospital the town has, his wife, Esme, a stay at home mom, the kids going to high school. All of them perfect students, perfect records, not even parking or speeding tickets. Wealthy, or more like filthy rich, but I couldn't find the source. Dr. Cullen's income is not enough to account for it. If it's an inheritance, then I don't know from where. I can't trace it back. One odd thing I found about the credit card statements is that there was barely any spending for food and that only changed a few months after Bella moved to town," McGee fired off his summery, trying to stick to what they knew for sure, which was jack shit honestly.

Well-off with no clear source for that massive wealth? Fake identities? Drug lords, mob bosses were coming to his mind.

"They might be buying their food with cash," Gibbs said like an afterthought. Though why would they?

"There are rarely any cash withdrawals, mostly just card usage. And no, there are practically no restaurants among those," Tim shook his head dismissively.

"Are you saying they don't eat?" his boss finally showed some emotion, that of pure disbelief.

"Or they grow everything themselves in the backyard. I don't know," the computer whiz shrugged defensively.

"Do they look like the type of people who have a chicken coop out back?" the pepper-haired man pointed to their pictures on the screen.

"Honestly? No. More like runway models. And they all look freakishly similar, even though they look different," McGee made a face, not sure if that made any sense.

Jethro understood what he meant. All their driver's license photos showed beautiful people, with angular features, almost like sculpted marbles, all their eyes a golden amber color. The general shapes of their faces and hair color were different in contrast.

"Are they part of some weird cult, getting plastic surgeries to look the same?" he grunted dubiously.

"Nope. Actually, there isn't a single medical record entry for any of them, as if they never got injured or sick," Timothy brought up those record with the push of a key.

"Or the father treated them off the books," Gibbs was the epitome of logic and rationale. Everything had an explanation, there were no coincidences, but it was starting to get harder even for him to come up with something plausible.

"I guess. They did have all their vaccinations per the identity set up though," the agent sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. The all-nighter was starting to catch up to him.

"That's just thoroughness. So what do we  _actually_  know?" Jethro inquired.

"That they lived in Forks for three years then moved away to Ithaca, New York just a few days after Bella's eighteenth birthday. They still currently reside there," the younger man stated because besides their place of residence he didn't know what to make of the information.

"What about their connection to Bella? Have you talked to her father?" the team leader looked to the passenger side again.

"No, not yet. I checked, but I couldn't find anything else online that might suggest they were dating either. Oh, I forgot to mention, of course, none of them have an online life," Tim rolled his eyes.

"That was expected." He looked at the clock, 7:15 AM. That meant it was only 4:15 at Pacific Time. Maybe a bit too early to call. But worth a try.

That was when Bella finally called them back.

* * *

Bella woke up with a start, the alarm and worry she felt in her dream for those two boys still cursing through her veins. The dream had been so vivid, seemed so real, yet it couldn't have been, could it? Just her wild imagination. Yet she knew the two wolf puppies were the same ones she had dreamt of before, and that couldn't have been a coincidence. Everything was so surreal, her being Klaus's wife, them having children, who had aged ten years in just two. Were they doomed to die after a short life of fifteen-twenty years? How them existing would be even possible? She wasn't fertile, haven't had a cycle since her turning. She couldn't imagine any magic that could make her pregnant despite those conditions.

"Bella, love. You are finally awake!" Klaus exclaimed with exuberant relief, jumping up from the armchair that he had pulled up to her bed, now relocating to her side.

"What time is it? How long have I been out?" she asked a bit groggily, sitting up against the headboard.

"Nearly 16 hours, love. It's just about after 6 AM," the original answered, caressing her hand with his thumb.

Her phone started ringing. Her work phone to be exact.

"Someone has been desperately trying to get a hold of you for the last fifteen minutes," Klaus commented dryly, and Bella could detect just a hint of jealousy in there.

The agent looked at the caller ID.

"It's my former boss, shit. He is going to be so pissed," Bella scrambled out of bed and noticed that she was in a fresh set of her sweats, no blood or anything on her from the fight. Even her hair felt freshly washed.

"Did you bathe and change me?" the brunette asked with a raised brow.

"Uhm. No. As much I would have enjoyed that despite the circumstances, Freya and Rebekah were the culprits. They insisted, rambling about modesty," the werewolf hybrid smirked at her mischievously, his darker mood lifting immensely now that he saw her up and about even if she looked paler than usual. Probably nothing a good hunt wouldn't fix.

"Oh," Bella breathed, taken aback that the girls cared at all. Her phone still rang incessantly. "I'll just take this outside."

She was at the front door in no time and stepped out on the street to take a walk while she tried to explain why she wasn't picking up her phone. Right at that moment, a familiar scent hit her nose, though a hundred times more intense than she had ever remembered as a human. Yet the same. Honey, lilacs, and sun. Edward had been there a few hours ago, right at their doorstep.

The agent was so stunned for a moment – visions of the meadow flashing through her memories – that she completely forgot about her phone until it stopped ringing and the silence brought her back to the present. Bella pressed the call back button, starting to walk in the morning light, relieved that there was no chance of running into  _him_  at the moment.

 _"_ _Bella, thank God!"_  Tim exhaled in relief at the other end, she was also on speaker phone, and from the background noise, she could tell they were in a car. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" the hybrid asked.

 _"_ _Uhm, well, you haven't been picking up your phone,"_  McGee embarrassedly informed her, now that he knew she was fine a bit unsure how to proceed.

"I was in the shower," she lied, this time even surprising herself by the simplicity of the creativity involved. And so believable too. Maybe she  _was_  a sociopath after all. "Having twenty minutes to myself is hardly a capital offense, why had it freaked you out so much?"

 _"_ _Where are you right now, Swan?"_ Gibbs cut in, his voice full of that gruff vexation he got when he was in the middle of a case not yet knowing all the facts but anticipating a shit storm. Not a good sign.

"Going out to get a cup of coffee," Bella said to have a plausible cover for the street noises around her.

 _"_ _Go back to where you are staying, lock the doors and don't open it for anyone. I'll talk to Pride to send someone over to you,"_  her former boss ordered her, his voice indicating that was non-negotiable.

"What is going on?" the agent inquired, pausing in her steps.

 _"_ _We have uncovered information that suggests someone might be after you,"_  Jethro informed her, though he found her lack of knowledge of the situation a bit weird. Wasn't this why she left?

"Who?" the brunette questioned further, though she was getting a bad feeling about this. There was only one person she could think of who was "after her" at the moment.

 _"_ _Edward Cullen,"_ the team leader stated simply.

Bella was floored, her worst nightmare coming to life. Where did they even hear of him? How much did they know about the Cullens?

"I'm sorry, what?" she doubled back, getting a sudden urge to look around even though she knew that he couldn't possibly be anywhere near her. Well, maybe in a dark alley, but he couldn't get there without dazzling his way through the streets or rooftops, surely catching attention.

 _"_ _Edward Cullen had been spotted by the Navy Yard acting suspiciously yesterday, and we know that he had boarded a plane to New Orleans last night,"_  Gibbs elaborated further.

"I still don't understand why you believe that he is after me," Bella tried to lessen the significance of that event. And what even constituted as "suspicious"? Was he dragging his sparkly ass along the gate? If yes, NCIS was the last thing he needed to worry about, the Volturi would come for him soon enough.

 _"_ _Isn't he your ex?"_  her former boss asked. Bella could practically see his brows furrowing at her obtuseness.

"He is. But I haven't seen or heard from him in six years. Not to mention he was the one who left me not the other way around. Why would he be looking for me? Are we even sure that is what's really going on here? Why does NCIS think he is some sort of threat?" the girl fired off another round of questions, generally trying to debunk their suspicions. Not for Edward's sake, of course.

 _"_ _He is not who you think he is. Tim dug through their information and is it turns out, his identity is fake,"_  Jethro revealed grimly.

 _Well, damn. They sure were thorough. Just don't dig any further._  If she remembered correctly, Cullen  _was_  Carlisle's original last name, same with Hale being Rosalie's. Back in the distant past, before digitalization, pictures were not part of official records. Or if they were, utterly unsearchable. A number of people sharing the same name, having different birthdays, is perfectly normal. Until you see pictures and the level of similarity just couldn't possibly be merely familial. What will McGee make of identical looking people, not aging a day since the late nineties (more actually but he won't know that), yet with different birthdates when he finally does connect the dots?

"Unexpected and troubling, but how does this rise to an official NCIS investigation? Do you also have information that he is planning something against the Navy?" the agent asked because truthfully this wasn't their jurisdiction. Not that FBI handling it would have eased her mind. Agent Fornell was just as inquisitive as Gibbs. They shared many qualities. Not to mention wives, having married the same woman. Not at the same time of course.

 _"_ _It's not an official investigation... Yet,"_  he said ominously.

Bella knew that Gibbs wasn't shy doing things… under the radar… to put it nicely, if it involved people he cared about.

"Wait a minute. The only reason you are looking into him is that in the distant past he was connected to me?" she asked incredulously.

 _"_ _You don't seem awfully worried about him,"_  Gibbs commented skeptically after a moment, not really wanting to confirm or deny that statement.

"Honestly? No. If he tries anything funny, I'll shoot him in the face," Bella huffed, which earned a proud smile from the older agent. More like tear him into tiny pieces and set the pile ablaze, but no need to go into details.  _"But I do have another question."_

_"_ _Fire away."_

"Am I under internal investigation?" the agent inquired earnestly, almost like an accusation.

 _"_ _No, you are not,"_  Jethro warily said, sharing a look with Tim in the car.

"Then why are you looking into my past? Because I can't really imagine a full-blown, off the books investigation launched on the basis that a guy was looking shady near HQ. Something made you look into him. Was McGee snooping around in my personnel file again? Looked me up on the internet or something?" the brunette demanded, not bothering to hide just how much this irked her.

 _"_ _Again?"_  Gibbs raised his brow at his subordinate.

 _"_ _When we went to Mystic Falls, Tony was curious why Bella was so alarmed when she heard we were going there,"_  Tim quietly admitted, ashamed, trying to take up as little space as possible. The peppered-haired man glanced up at the ceiling of his car asking for patience.

"I appreciate the warning, and it's kind of sweet that you are looking out for me. But I didn't ask for help. And truth be told this awfully feels like stalking and a gross violation of my privacy. Not too different from what you assume Edward is doing. I'm not on your team anymore, and you had no right or jurisdiction to start this in the first place. If Edward does show his face, I'll handle him," Bella announced after a while, the awkward silence getting a bit too much for her.

 _"_ _Understood,"_  her former team leader gruffly said, and with that, he hung up.

* * *

"That was… weird," Tim scowled as he ran the conversation back in his head.

"That's one way of putting it," Gibbs agreed. Something was not right.

"Do you think she knows more than she is letting on?" the younger agent asked, though dismayed by the mere suggestion, he couldn't help but feel it was true.

"Check if she was really out of contact with the Cullens in the past years," he really didn't like that they had to do this, but they had to know. This wasn't just about Bella anymore.

"Just a sec…" McGee cross-referenced the phone records, check the server for her work correspondence, then hacked into Bella's private email. "No phone calls between their known numbers, nor emails…" Could they have had contact in person? He looked into passenger lists, but none of them came to D.C. in the past five years, and then something caught his eye. "But Alice Cullen did fly out to Charlottesville on Wednesday evening."

"Didn't Bella say she was hiking with friends around there on Thursday morning?" Jethro frowned. His hunch was rarely wrong, but he surely didn't want to be right at that moment.

"That she did," he nodded.

"I think we ought to pay a visit to Ithaca," he swerved the car then took a U-turn to head towards the interstate, he also got his phone back out. "What's Chief Swan's number?"

They had to find out who the Cullens really were and if Bella was compromised as an agent because of them.

* * *

Bella stared at her phone. She should have handled that better. Gibbs knew something was up that was for sure. That unsettling phone call she got from him on Thursday, asking where she was came to her mind. Her former boss was suspicious of something even back then. Probably only about her reasons for relocating initially. But now… Maybe trying to stay in NCIS was a mistake, she should have just disappeared to New Orleans, and then Edward wouldn't have been able to find out where she was. He most likely heard it in someone's thoughts. Maybe that whole display with DiNozzo was a mistake, too suspicious, or out of character. Clearly, Gibbs didn't entirely buy the story. Maybe everything was a mistake. Why was she even trying to assimilate into the human world in the first place?

"Boo!"

Suddenly a set of hands covered her eyes from behind, and she instinctively elbowed the culprit in the ribs at full force, knowing it was a vampire. There was no way anyone else could have sneaked up on her, no matter how distracted she was.

"Ow!" the older Salvatore brother exclaimed in pain, hugging his abused torso. The hit wasn't as hard as Bella anticipated, clearly she hadn't broken anything. Then she remembered that she had lost quite a bit of blood yesterday.

"Damon! What the hell are you doing here?" Bella spun around, recognizing his voice now, peeved by his prank, not to mention the fact that he somehow deduced that she was in New Orleans instead of D.C. like she had told the gang.

"Oh, how pissed Caroline will be to learn I won this bet!" he snickered amusedly, already picturing the blonde's face.

"What bet?" the hybrid grimaced. Damon was so predictable in his childish ways.

"She said you went home to Washington, I said there was no way you would be anywhere else than where Klaus is. And these days that means New Orleans," the cocky vampire elaborated, enjoying the girl's reaction a bit too much.

"Well, you found me. Now go home," Bella turned around, intent on going back to the compound.

"Wait a minute. What's going on? Are you okay?" Damon stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder, appraising her appearance. She looked a bit run down, pale, dark circles under her eyes.

"I'm just dandy, now leave me alone," she huffed, not in the mood for this conversation. Too many problems to deal with it.

"Hey, why are you pushing me away?" the Salvatore brother asked with concern, getting all touchy-feely, which wasn't his usual style.

"Because honestly, you are too damn nosy," the brunette forced a sarcastic smile at him, batting her eyelashes.

"Excuse me for fucking worrying. Sorry to break it to you, but you look like shit, baby doll," he got all snarky in response.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bella quirked her eyebrow at him.

Truthfully she hadn't looked in a mirror today yet. His sass could have referred to anything from bed hair to the appearance of a rotting walking corpse.

"You look... kind of anemic. Which is saying a lot given…" Damon paused because some people passed them on the street. "Our diet," he finished quietly with a less suspicious phrase. He wanted to say "given that you are a vampire" or "given that you suck blood for a living."

"I lost a bit of blood yesterday, and need to go hunting," Bella hissed back as an explanation. Now that she thought about her foul mood, and lack of self-control with Gibbs too, could very well be a sign of her thirst flaring up.

"What do you mean you lost blood?" the older Salvatore practically seethed, his eyes wide with anger, but it wasn't directed at her.

"Got close up and personal with an Upgraded Original vampire. I won, by the way, before you ask." Which also meant that she had killed him, that fact hitting her hard again. She knew Damon had done a lot worse in his lifetime, yet she couldn't help but avert her gaze. She felt so dirty like she needed to take another shower to scrub away the blood that wasn't even on her anymore.

"So this is what Klaus got you up to? Saving his sorry ass and cleaning up his messes?" the vampire inquired with eerie calm.

"I volunteered. Besides I was the only one who could do it, I'm immune to werewolf venom, even the kind that kills Originals," Bella shrugged off his concern, again, very purposefully not mentioning the fainting nor the dreams.

"And you say we shouldn't worry… wow… do you even have a single bone for self-preservation in your body?" Damon quipped skeptically.

" _Now_ you have an objection? If I remember correctly you were the one who suggested that Tyler should bite me just to experiment with my freakish hybrid powers," she pointed out, crossing her arms defiantly.

"I was just joking. You know that," his blue eyes softened, desperate for her to believe him.

"Do I? Anyway, you got what you came for. I'm fine, crisis averted, I can go on with my life," the hybrid summarized, although she wasn't sure if that was actually true. The "going on with her life" part that is.

"Does that mean you are going home?" the Salvatore brother perked up, hoping that his sire would be safe from now on.

"This  _is_  my home. I got myself transferred here, and I think the change in atmosphere will do me good. I like the city already… If I still have a job on Monday that is…" the agent trailed off, the doubt and worry about what could be going on at HQ plaguing her.

"What do you mean?" Damon asked, trying to look very sad about her career troubles, but actually wishing that Bella found a less scrutinized profession. Or none at all. Mingling with humans was always risky for secrecy sake, but working for the government… that was a whole new level of crazy.

"Other complications," Bella attempted to say nonchalantly, but the apprehension was evident on her face.

"Such as?" he inquired again, getting a bit flippant and frustrated.

"Edward. That is the complication. He was snooping around in D.C. and Gibbs being Gibbs spotted that something was off about him and started digging. Made the connection to me. Plus they also know he got on a flight to come here. They believe he is a terrorist, drug lord, mobster or something along those lines, living under a fake identity and stalking me..." the brunette gabbled on, her walls starting to break down around Damon like they did five years ago.

"Back up a bit, who is Gibbs?" Damon interrupted her.

"A senior agent. My former boss."

"Oh…" he breathed in understanding. Then sighed exasperatedly. "Go figure… Edweird showing his face again. Do you want me to track him down and kill his tooth fairy ass?"

Bella snorted in amusement. "Seriously? Edweird? But no, I can handle him. Really, go home, tell everyone I'm fine."

"If that is really what you want. But you know I'm just a call away if you need me," the older Salvatore brother relented with a shrug and the fact that for once he didn't argue warmed Bella's heart. Maybe her friend was still in there somewhere.

"Thank you for taking my wishes into account for once," she beamed at him.

"Brat," Damon quipped with a roll of his eyes.

"Old fart," Bella retorted.

They broke out in giggles. God, this felt nice. Falling back on their usual banter. It was amusing how in total Damon was more than seventy years older than Edward, yet he had none of that antiquated stuffiness to his personality.

"Did someone mention me?" Klaus came up to them with an unreadable smirk, which could hide anything from amusement to murderous intent, effectively killing the party. He regarded Damon with a lingering disapproving gaze.

"He is right Bella, I'm still in my prime, but he on the other hand… gotta be tough without your cane…  _grandpa_ ," the vampire daringly taunted the original.

"You were just leaving, Damon, weren't you?" Bella suggested, while preemptively placing a hand on Klaus's chest before he could jump her friend – yes she was going to call him that again. The gesture didn't evade Damon's attention, nor the casual ease the two were starting to develop around each other.

"That I was," he cordially confirmed. He was halfway done turning on his heel to make his exit when as if changing his mind he faced them again. "If I hear that there is even a hair out of place on her head again, I will hold you personally responsible, do we understand each other?"

Klaus possessively placed an arm around Bella's shoulder before replying.

"Oh, don't you worry…" he began, but the girl in his arms interrupted him.

"I'm quite capable of handling myself, Damon," she smirked, having none of the male chauvinistic bullshit.

The Salvatore brother mock saluted her then disappeared.

"Now, love, tell me who this Edward is," the original asked in a serious and concerned voice.

 _How much had he heard?_ Probably everything, maybe even her phone call with Gibbs.

"I need to feed first," Bella sighed, relenting to the fact there was no avoiding this talk now.

"We have bags back at the compound," the werewolf hybrid offered again graciously, his smirk telling that he knew that it would be refused.

The agent looked at him with an unamused glare.

"You don't need to come, just tell me where I can find some wild animals in the area," she said pointedly.

"Oh, don't worry, love. I want to see this," he laughed.

And that is when Bella realized she totally forgot to ask Damon about his meeting with Jasper. Probably hadn't been that exciting if he didn't bring it up himself.


	21. Perilous revelations

Damon stopped at the edge of the French Quarter, out of earshot of Klaus and Bella. He was tempted to track Dickward down. His scent was all over the streets of the neighborhood, straightforward enough to identify as he was the only fucking cold one in town. But he promised Bella that he would leave the issue alone.

Did Major Whitlock and his chick know what their coven member was up to? Didn't Bella say that Alicia… or Alice… or whatever her name was… was capable of seeing the future? Surely she had seen the mess Edward was pulling them all into. Jasper did give Damon a number so that he could reach him in case he wanted to catch up again... Worth a try to see if they could talk Edward out of his crazy plans that would ultimately mess Bella's life up. Not to mention their own.

The vampire gave it a try, but the phone number was out of service. Weird. It worked just fine a few days earlier. Damon impatiently drummed his phone against his palm, pondering on what to do. His fist itched to slam against that douchebag's chiseled face. And when did Damon ever fight against his impulses?

* * *

"So what was Damon Salvatore doing here?" Klaus inquired from Bella on their run out of the city so that they could find the carnivores she was craving. Elk and deer just wouldn't cut it for her at the moment. Apparently, there was a black bear habitat ninety miles west from them in the coastal area. Barely a fifteen minute run at full speed. And totally worth it in Bella's opinion.

She detected a hint of jealousy in his tone, which given his possessive nature wasn't all that surprising after witnessing how laidback they had been with each other. Didn't mean she wanted to encourage or enable the behavior though.

"Don't worry, the gang won't be bothering you. He was just finally acting like the friend he was to me before turning me," the brunette shrugged. His utter lack of response told her that wasn't news to him. "But you already knew that."

"Yes, I am aware that he is your sire," Klaus smirked because by proxy she was also his, which filled him with an odd sense of satisfaction. The only way it could have been greater if he could have been the one to actually turn her.

"How much do you know about me?" Bella inquired with a raised brow. "Scratch that, how did you even find out that I exist?"

"Freya. She tapped into the spirits looking for a solution on how to handle Lucien three weeks ago. They told her about a vampire cold one hybrid that was created in Mystic Falls nearly five years ago," the Original explained. There wasn't really any point in hiding the truth now. Maybe open honesty was the way to her heart.

"And you immediately jumped to the conclusion that it couldn't have been anyone else but me?" she probed further. Finally, he seemed to really be forthright with her, and she was going to milk it until it lasted.

"Well, I was in town at the time, knew all the people who were there. It took a bit of research and process of elimination, but you were the only possibility left after that," Nik revealed, glancing nervously at Bella, wondering how she would react to the truth.

"We didn't even meet back then," the girl scowled, trying to figure out how Klaus found out about her.

"Yes, but Elijah remembered that there was another girl at the Salvatore Boarding House when he went there to negotiate with Elena," the werewolf hybrid revealed.

Bella remembered that too. She was supposed to stay in her room, Damon wanted to keep her hidden from the Originals, out of trouble, but she just couldn't help herself when Elijah came barreling in. She had to go see if Elena was alright. Thankfully he didn't mean harm at the time, because truthfully she wouldn't have been able to do anything about him if he wanted to attack them.

"So you went back to Mystic Falls to look for me?" she prompted again.

"Yes, only to find that you were long gone," Klaus smiled despite himself, recalling how enraged he was at the time that this little girl wasn't making it easy for them to find her. How differently he felt now. In the end, all the trouble was worth it.

"I left the minute I woke up from the transformation," Bella admitted. "I was so furious with Damon. I never wanted this… not after…" she paused with a sigh. She hated that everything boiled down to Edward. That everything she did was somehow still dictated by him.

"After what?" he asked with concern veiling fury, assuming that Damon had done something to elicit that faraway hurt look in her eyes.

"That part of the story I'm only telling after I had my bear," the agent said, and he immediately got the hint that it had something to do with this Edward character. She already promised that she would tell, so he didn't push further. He could be patient if he wanted to. "Tell me, how  _did_  you find me?"

"Well, since I knew you would instantly realize a vampire was looking for you if I went there in person and possibly vanish again, I hired a human private investigator after I had learned your name. He tracked you to NCIS and Washington, D.C.," the Original disclosed, again a slightly embarrassed smirk dancing at the corner of his mouth. He assumed at one point Bella would start running for the hills from all the stalkery, but she just listened attentively.

"And because I was a federal agent you thought you had to get creative about contacting me or getting me to Mystic Falls, so you came up with the murder case idea," the brunette concluded, not incorrectly. "Not exactly the conventional method to charm your way into a girl's heart," she added sarcastically. Yes, this had been the main driving point of her doubts all along. If he wanted her to be his "queen," why go about it like this?

"I have to confess that charming you wasn't my initial plan," Klaus acknowledged with a sigh. Now or never, he thought. He had to tell her everything. "I thought the murder was the perfect idea, until I first laid eyes on you in the town square, collecting evidence. I had seen pictures of you before that, but at that moment something just changed inside me. I don't know how to explain it, I felt this tremendous pull towards you. Instead of using you, I wanted you by my side from that point on. I scrambled to make it right somehow. By that time, I had already set Joey Bates up to take the fall, not much point in changing that with what I knew about him, but I felt that somehow I needed to make you see me for the man I am, and not a monster. I went to the sheriff's station to talk to you, but when you were so closed off and hostile, I realized that I had to restart. So I tried to erase your prejudiced memories of me. That didn't work out either, did it?"

Bella laughed out. "Made it worse actually."

That little rant eased her worries some because everything started to make sense finally. The contradictions in his approach, how his priorities seemed to have changed. Why Rebekah might have thought that Klaus was only using her.

"I bet. Then when you left town, I sent Elijah to investigate how you were able to shake off the compulsion," the Original rambled on further, seemingly unable to stop the truth to fully come out.

"By breaking into my apartment?" the agent dubiously inquired. She recalled Elijah's words. Klaus must have a closer relationship with his brother than his sister because he was aware of the change in plans even at that time.

"I did not know he would do that. He gets really fierce when it comes to protecting his family," he said with a frown, worrying about what she was thinking of the whole thing.

"Seems like a common trait," Bella commented with a knowing smirk. The question was where they drew the line between family and everyone else. That one seemed to change for the Mikaelsons all the time.

"It is. When he came back telling me that he didn't believe that the reason for your resistance was vervain, it intrigued me even more. I wanted to get to know you, figure you out. So I tried to take the conventional route and asked you out to dinner," he really looked like the twenty-something boy in love at that moment instead of a thousand-year-old being. The image of him in the woods with the boys from the dream popped into her mind. He was just as carefree and happy there.

"And me being combative through the whole way didn't put you off?" she teased with a giggle. Even in the cemetery, he had commented on liking her being feisty.

"No, I like a challenge," Klaus winked at her, with that smirk again.

"You're impossible," the girl shook her head with an amused smile. She had to admit it though, he was breaking through her walls, inch by inch.

"May I ask you something?" his tone turned serious again, and she almost stopped running.

"About what?" Bella asked worriedly.

"Who are Renly and Carter?" the original blurted out, averting his gaze as jealousy overtook him again.

Bella knew that she had a tendency to talk in her sleep, but it had been so long since there had been anyone to witness her midnight ramblings that she had almost forgotten about this habit of hers. This time she really stopped, right in the middle of a clearing in the woods, very similar to one in her dream. Klaus noticed her sudden halt a bit late and had to jog back to her.

"Bella, love, what is it?" he inquired with concern, taking her face in his hands, fearing that he had unintentionally stirred something else up. He really didn't want to cause her pain. She seemed to have had far more than her fair share already in her life.

"Nothing, I just…" the girl shook her head. "I forgot what it's like to have someone there watching me sleep."

Though the thought of Edward sneaking into her bedroom without her knowledge creeped her out now instead of endearing him to her.

"I didn't mean to intrude on your privacy, I was just worried because you were out for so long," Klaus searched her face for signs of disapproval or anger.

"Did you sleep at all?" she inquired with a raised brow.

"Uhm… no," he admitted with a shake of his head. Bella rolled her eyes, but she was touched by the devotion he showed her.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad. More like embarrassed," the brunette said to ease his mind. "The dream was about two little boys, twins actually, who could turn into huge wolf puppies…"

And that is when a realization hit her.

The boys' wolf forms were way too big for ordinary wolves. Where did she had seen this before? At La Push, of course. The shapeshifter wolves. Everything fit. Even the pace they matured at. She remembered Jacob changing so fast, going from looking like a gangly teenager to a twenty-five-year-old buff guy in a matter of weeks when the transformation hit.

Either Bella's presence or their inherent cold one genetics triggered the two little boys to grow at such rates. But if the twins were her and Klaus's babies, then that would mean that the origins of the Quileutes weren't exactly like in their legends.

"Bella?" the Original shook her slightly, his heart racing with anxiety as she spaced out.

"Just a moment, I'm having an epiphany here," she held up a finger to halt him. The shapeshifter wolves must be descendants of a cold one father and a werewolf mother. It wouldn't work the other way around since female cold ones couldn't carry babies. "I have to call someone."

Bella fished around for her private phone in her pocket and dialed Jacob. Klaus let her do her thing, though he was starting to fall to pieces on the inside from not knowing what was going on.

_"Bella! I was just about to call you!"_  the Black boy picked up on the first ring. The Original almost growled beside her when he heard the male voice on the other end and the agent shushed him so that she could concentrate.

"What's going on, Jake?" Bella asked, noticing the unease in his voice.

_"Charlie is here. He wants to talk to you,"_  he said, giving the phone off to her dad before she could respond.

"Oh, okay…" she mumbled anyway, sparing a glance at Klaus who started pacing around. It was so easy to wind up the man.

_"Bella?"_  Chief Swan's voice came through the phone.

"Yes, Dad?" the brunette deliberately addressed him as such which instantly eased the werewolf hybrid. She rolled her eyes. They really had to deal with the jealousy issues and soon.

_"Are you in trouble?"_  Charlie frantically inquired.

"Why do you ask?" Bella responded with a question of her own, acutely aware that on both sides they had people with extra-sensitive hearing.

_"I had a Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs giving me a call, asking about Edward Cullen and his connection to you,"_  he revealed, accusation and that fatherly authoritative tone in his voice that instantly threw the girl back into her childhood.

"Dammit, I should have seen that coming," the agent cursed. She really should have. Gibbs wasn't the kind that would leave matters alone.

_"Bells…"_  the police chief chided her language, and there was also a warning in there, implicating that he wanted answers and wanted them now.

"I don't think I am personally in trouble, Dad…" she really hoped at least. "But Edward was flagged as a threat. NCIS is investigating him."

There were a few moments of pause.

_"Are you in contact with him?"_  her dad inquired earnestly.

"No, I'm not," Bella confirmed truthfully, at which Charlie sighed in relief. He probably told that much to NCIS and was glad that he didn't unwittingly lie to them.

_"Then why are they asking me about him?"_  he perplexedly asked.

"Well, he did live in Forks for a while so you would be the authority figure to ask… and they also think he is stalking me," the agent summarized, glancing at Klaus again. He had been listening in on her conversation with Damon, so this wasn't exactly news to him. Either way, he was intently paying attention, probably already thinking about how to solve the problem.

_"Just so you know, I share that notion. I told them as much, along with what he did to you, and that he was here asking questions just days ago."_

At that, the werewolf hybrid snapped his head up. What did he do to Bella?

"I appreciate you telling me, but didn't they tell you to not talk to me while the investigation is ongoing?" Bella asked, knowing NCIS protocols for investigations. Witnesses, suspects, and persons of interest should not be allowed to confer with each other about the case. They were no doubt monitoring Charlie's calls. Had he called Jake or Billy before going there?

_"They did, that's why I thought you were in trouble,"_  Charlie admitted.

"They are going to know you called me," the agent worried.

_"Well, they won't actually. I didn't call Jake before coming here in case they were listening in,"_  he proudly announced.

"Did you take your phone with you?" she probed, just in case. GPS tracking.

_"No, I left it at the station. Also asked the neighbor if I could use his car so that I could tow the cruiser to the repair shop, claiming that there was something wrong with it. I even banged up the exhaust to explain the rattling, and to have something for the mechanic to fix. I'm not stupid, Bella, besides I have worked in law enforcement all my life. I know our tricks,"_  the police chief rolled his eyes. The things he was willing to do for his girl.

"What would I do without you, Dad?" Bella gushed. He really did think of everything, even the transponder in police cars, to cover his tracks to sneak in this phone call to her.

_"Not sure, kiddo. So what did Edward do? They asked me all kinds of questions about what I knew of their background if there was anything suspicious about them while they lived here, but wouldn't tell me anything,"_  Charlie inquired further, wanting to know what was really going on.

"All I know is that they have fake identities, Dad," the agent lied. Well, they did have fake identities, but that wasn't all she knew.

_"That son of a bitch. I knew something was fishy about them,"_ he said.

Bella rolled her eyes.  _No, you didn't, you even defended the Cullens to Billy Black. You only started being wary of him when I ran off to Phoenix, then when he left me in the woods six years ago…_

_"Did you know this back then?"_

"No," she lied again swiftly. Well, this technically wasn't a lie, she didn't explicitly  _know_  they had fake identities back then, though she figured as much.

_"Alright, I have to get back to the station, let me know if I can help,"_  Chief Swan said finally, not calmed at all by the things he found out, but he trusted his daughter to handle the situation.

"Sure, Dad," the brunette smiled. She really had the best father in the world. "Can you get Jake back on the phone?"

Klaus huffed at that, in a sour mood again. Bella shot him a warning glance.

_"Of course."_

There was a moment of silence, doors opening closing, some footsteps, then another entry before her friend spoke up.

_"Bells, what the hell is going on?"_  the wolf shifter practically snarled into the receiver, troubled by what he had heard. Of course, Charlie thought he had that conversation in private, but Bella knew better.

"Is everyone out of earshot?" she asked just to make sure.

"Yeah, I came out to my garage," he said.

"Edward is causing trouble that's what's going on. If he doesn't stop trying to find me, he might even draw the Volturi's attention to himself."

Just days before Edward left her, he mentioned them and their rules, but since then she had done her own research, of course.

"Those bloodsucker royalty you told me about?" Jacob frowned as he tried to remember the talks they had almost six years ago about the different things they knew about the supernatural world.

"Yes, them," the brunette confirmed. From the corner of her eye, she could see Klaus smile to himself. She really didn't like the look of that.

"Well, serves him right," Jake actually laughed out at the cold one's impending doom.

"No, it's really bad news. NCIS is inches from stumbling into the truth about the supernatural world," Bella huffed, perturbed by his callousness. Though he didn't know this could include her too.

"Not your problem, Bella," the shapeshifter emphasized.

"Jake…" she began to explain but was cut off.

"Don't tell me you still care about him?" he jumped to the wrong conclusion. The werewolf hybrid standing beside her was also very interested in her answer.

"No, I don't, but… it's not only their problem," the agent tried to hint again at the core of her predicament.

"Don't worry about us, we had no official connection to the Cullens, they won't find out about the wolves in La Push," Jake arrived at the wrong assumption again.

"Yeah… You are right," Bella sighed, not able to bring herself to admitting the truth to him. "There is something else I wanted to tell you."

"What is it?" the Black boy perked up.

"It's about your tribal legends. About the wolves…" she knew she shouldn't be having this conversation in front of a vampire, but she was fairly certain that Klaus wouldn't want to hurt them. He would be just intrigued with the wolves and their origins. She could see the interest in his eyes.

"What about it?" he asked perplexedly. Definitely not what he was expecting.

"Well, you know the part where you told me that your ancestors made a pact with the spirits to enable the transformations?" the brunette hesitantly broached the subject.

Truthfully, ever since she became a vampire and found out about other segments of the supernatural world that were hidden from her until then, she thought those legends meant witches and magic involvement, but maybe it had referred to something else entirely.

"That's an oversimplification but yes," Jacob rolled his eyes.

"You know how in Christianity the visit of the Holy Spirit is used as an explanation for the Virgin Mary's pregnancy? I think that's actually a euphemism for her having an illicit sexual relationship. What if the first shapeshifter came to be because an actual werewolf mated with a creature of another kind that enabled their offspring to transform on will, without pain or the moon's influence?" Bella suggested unsurely. It sounded crazy even to her out loud.

Jake exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself before answering.

"What do you suppose that creature was?" he humored her, but his tone spoke millions of his skepticism.

"A cold one," she proposed in a small voice. Klaus's eyes went wide. Now he really wanted to know what she had dreamt about. Two boys who could shapeshift exactly like her… acquaintance… from La Push, but obviously not from there if she was formulating theories on how they came to be. A werewolf and a cold one? Who was she talking about? Whose kids were those?

"That's just… sick," the boy spat with utter disgust. "Besides, in our legends, we were able to shift long before our first contact with cold ones."

"Might have been kept secret," the agent tried.

"Bella, this is just… repulsive. Why do you even ask?" Jacob inquired, his outrage so strong his hands quivered, almost transforming into a wolf right then and there in his cramped garage.

"Never mind. Forget I ever mentioned it," Bella backpedaled, sensing that it was best not to push the issue further at the moment.

"Bells… what's going on with you?" the concern returned to his tone as he scrolled through the whole conversation in his head. Was she caught up in the supernatural again? Besides Edward freaking Cullen that is.

"Nothing… really," she deflected, then suddenly another theory came to her mind. "Do you know if Charlie has any familial connection to the Quileutes? Any ancestors from the reservation?"

Klaus was able to mate with Hayley because of his werewolf side since they were compatible. He wouldn't have been able to do that with a human. What if she was part wolf then? None of the women or older men transformed on the reservation when they were exposed to cold ones, that would explain her and Charlie's lack of triggering after spending time with the Cullens if this really was the case.

"Not that I know of. What is this about really? You are really freaking me out here," Jake pushed for answers again.

"I… I just had a dream, that's all. I'm trying to make sense of it," the brunette rubbed her eyes tiredly. Starting this topic was a mistake.

Meanwhile, Klaus was starting to piece the puzzle together. Cold one and werewolf. Both of them were hybrids, each being one of those besides being a vampire.

"A dream about cold ones and werewolves making shapeshifter wolf babies? How does Charlie's ancestry come into this? Wait a minute… you think you are a werewolf and want to make babies with that Cullen leech?" he shrieked in outrage, again almost losing his grip on his transformation.

"What? No!" Bella yelled back with equal amount of disgust.

Her vehement reaction was even surprising to herself. Until she had another epiphany. She really didn't want anything from Edward anymore. She had loved him once, and the bittersweet memories and reminders, like his scent, still hurt, but she didn't love him anymore. The mere thought of him touching her, much less having sex with her, made her sick to her stomach. The realization was liberating.

"Then I don't understand… wait… are you the cold one?" the shifter tried again, but that was an even scarier alternative.

"Uhm… not exactly."

This was it, the moment of truth, she had to tell him. Klaus was intently watching her.

"Bella…" Jacob prompted her to tell him the truth.

"Remember that time when I went to Phoenix a little over than six years ago? And I fell down a couple of stairs through a glass window in the hotel?" the girl asked in preparation for the full explanation. The original raised his brow, imagining just how clumsy and unlucky one must be to pull that one off. Even if human.

"Yes…?" he encouraged her to continue.

"Well… actually what happened was that James, that tracker who was in town at the time, he was hunting me. Alice and Jasper took me to Phoenix to hide from him, but he lured me to a ballet studio there with a recording of my mom, making me believe he held her hostage. He roughed me up pretty good then bit me… and I didn't become a cold one because Edward found me and sucked the venom out in time," Bella revealed.

The werewolf hybrid had heard the core of this story too before, but now the details were starting to fill in for him.

"I knew there was something weird about that scar."

Of course, Jacob knew about James and Victoria, found out about them when he first became a wolf through the pack mind, but all they knew was that James was destroyed by the Cullens.

"Yes, sorry for lying to you," the agent apologized.

"I still don't get it though. You said you didn't become one," Jake  _knew_  she didn't become one back then, she was human at least until she left town after graduating from high school. Naturally, he hadn't seen her in person since.

"Not a cold one… or more precisely, not purely a cold one," the brunette alluded to the shocking truth.

"What are you saying?" he asked for clarification because he just didn't want to believe what he was hearing.

"That I'm a vampire, a hybrid because of that bite," she came out with it finally. A long, long silence followed. Only the ambient noises in the background gave away that they were still in line. "Jake, are you there?"

"When?" the wolf shifter asked, forcing himself to stay calm. Eerily calm.

"Almost five years ago, when I was in Mystic Falls," Bella dropped the next bomb. She had kept this a secret from him for so long. "Jake say something."

"You say hybrid… and that there is some other kind of vampire out there… do you still feed on humans?" Jacob inquired because truthfully her diet was one of the most important factors to him. That decided if he would have to hunt her or not.

"Vampires in general, yes, but I'm not," the agent said, very happy with that life choice of hers right about now. She didn't think blood bags would have made a difference to her friend.

"That douchebag at least had  _some_  good influence on you," Jake huffed.

"Thanks… I guess…" she rolled her eyes. Why did everyone assume that someone had to have an influence on her? Couldn't she have a morality of her own?

"I really need some time to process this," he announced after a while, his tone emotionless.

"I… understand," the brunette sighed. That was to be expected. "Look, I'll have to get rid of this phone just in case the feds do somehow figure out the number, but I'll call and get the new one to you when I can, okay?"

"Okay," the wolf boy agreed, but there was no warmth in his voice.

"I'm sorry for not telling you, I just…" she trailed off, a lone tear escaping her eye.

"I know. You worried about how I would react." Jake understood her side, he really did. But this was a bit too much for him at the moment. The girl he knew and loved was dead in his eyes.

"Yeah," Bella breathed out. Jake had been her only friend for so long. After Edward left, after Damon betrayed her, or at least when she thought he had betrayed her, Jacob was the only one she could talk to, who brought some sunshine into her world. She didn't want to lose him.

"Talk to you later, Bells," he said and hung up before she could even react.

"Bye," she whispered to no one.

* * *

Edward was standing motionlessly in his hotel room, willing the day to end even though it had just begun. He was already starting to get stir crazy, and knowing that going to see Bella that evening was still pointless made it even worse. Monday. That was the time to make a move when she would hopefully be alone for just a few minutes after work.

Unexpectedly there was a harsh knock on his door. Then the thoughts of his visitor caught his attention. The person, or more precisely vampire, named Damon Salvatore knew exactly who he was, why he was here, and he was boiling with anger, feeling infinitely protective of Bella. He was a man on a mission.

"Hey, Douchepants! I know you are in there! Open up!" Damon rattled on the door one more time.

Edward rolled his eyes at his poor manners. He listened to the vampire's thoughts a bit more. Bella wasn't aware that he came here, actually expressively asked him not to come.

"Alright, scaredy-cat, I know you can hear everything so we can do this the other way too," he huffed after a while, realizing that Edward wouldn't be opening the door, and concentrated even harder on the parts about Edward from his earlier talk with Swan.

The mind reader realized that Damon knew about his gift, as he watched that conversation purposefully play out in his mind. Bella was talking about New Orleans, then about Edward complicating things, NCIS investigating him.

Then Alice and Jasper flickered into his mind. How did Damon Salvatore know them? Images from the Civil War were shown as if Damon anticipated that question, about himself serving under Major Whitlock. Oh. That was interesting.

"You might want to give your sister a call," the Salvatore brother said out loud just to make sure.

Edward hadn't realized until then that while Alice had been blowing up his phone all evening, haven't called even once since. He dialed her, but the phone was out of service. Cullen went to the door and opened it, wanting to demand answers.

A very swift punch in the face greeted him. The mind reader saw it coming, flickering through Damon's mind just a fraction of a second before he did it, but Edward was too slow to evade it.

That really surprised him. Were vampires that much faster?

"That's for Bella. Leave her the fuck alone. Capiche?" Damon smirked at the cold one, even though his hard, marble-like face left his hand throbbing. Just to make it sting even more, he thought about the times Bella cried on his shoulder, then when he kissed her while she was still human, feeding on her, turning her. Edward snarled, trying to block him out. A bit hard to do when someone was practically shouting their thoughts at you.

"Why did you do that to her?" Edward cried out in agony as he watched his love becoming the monster that he was.

"Well, for one to protect her from Victoria. The redhead psycho you failed to eliminate before leaving her all alone in the woods, you moron," the older Salvatore brother explained in a mocking tone.

Edward saw all that happening too, Victoria coming back again and again to Mystic Falls, Damon trying to kill her, finally deciding that turning Bella was the only option. The redhead getting confused about the change in her scent as she tried to follow the newly turned Bella out of town was the opening that led to her demise finally.

"Wait, what do you know about Alice? Why is her phone number out of service?" Cullen asked a few moments later because that piece of news was really troubling along with the NCIS investigation.

"I don't know for sure, but might be something to do with the fact that you hit a hornet's nest by poking around the feds. You might want to disappear before someone else might get wind of it," he alluded to the Volturi.

"You wouldn't. That would put Bella in danger too," Edward pointed out, though quickly realizing that Bella wasn't exactly subject to the Volturi's laws. She was probably recognized as a vampire foremostly, not a cold one. Not to mention that if Alice's account of their encounter and Damon's memories were accurate, then she might have been strong enough to stand up to them, or avoid them with her mental shield.

"No, I wouldn't," Damon admitted. "Doesn't mean they won't find out some other way. Leave Bella alone before it's too late."

"Not until she tells me to leave herself," he insisted. That had been his argument even back when they first started seeing each other. He would stay until she said otherwise.

"Your funeral, man," the vampire rolled his eyes, whole-heartedly believing this one was flying over the cuckoo's nest.

His itch had been calmed though, so Damon was taking his leave.


	22. I am an open book before you

Jacob Black was seething. Ever since he had hung up the phone, he had been staring at it in his hands. Bella was a vampire. Had been for a long time. He desperately wanted to go for a run in wolf form – his go-to coping mechanism – but that would mean that the rest of the pack would instantly know the truth too. Did it matter? She wasn't here, probably won't ever come back to Forks. It's not like Sam, and the others would leave the reservation to hunt her down across the country.

He took off his clothes to avoid shredding them and ran out of his garage, transforming instantly into a huge russet colored wolf and took off towards the trees.

By some miracle, none of the others were shifted at that moment. He got to have some alone time with his thoughts to sift through everything. Just to play it safe, he was miles over the Canadian border before he gave voice to his anguish. The howling was heart-wrenching, sending all the animals within a five-mile radius fleeing in fright.

* * *

Bella was standing motionlessly in the clearing, silent tears streaming down her face. Jake just needed time, right? She hadn't lost her dearest friend forever, right? How stupid could she be, springing something like this on him over the phone? Because of a silly dream, a theory she had no basis for.

Unexpectedly she was enveloped in a bear hug, getting crushed protectively to Klaus's broad chest. He hadn't said a word, didn't start asking questions – not yet anyway, Bella assumed – just held her. And that became her undoing. In that safe cocoon, the girl began sobbing inconsolably, crumpling the original's shirt on his back into her fists as she held on for dear life.

All the stress from the last week washed over her. It was just way too much for one person to handle, threatening to drown her. Crisis after crisis, crashing her world down. When would the trials stop finally?

The forest grew eerily silent around them, every critter immensely aware of the predators in the vicinity.

"Everything is going to be all right, love," Niklaus murmured soothingly after a while, caressing her hair and back, not really sure what to do with the brunette falling apart at the seams in his arms. He had never seen her like this and frankly she didn't seem like the type to cry a lot, so that made this episode even more troubling.

Out of the blue, Bella snorted in laughter, amused by the phrase, and the werewolf hybrid watched her, taken aback by the sudden mood change. People have become unhinged from less, maybe some professional help was in order. Hell, it had helped him!

"Thanks, I needed that. There's nothing a bit of Bob Marley can't fix," the agent smiled meekly, taking a few deep breaths, wiping away the rest of the tears from her face.

"I'm sorry, love, but I don't follow," he regarded her warily, still holding her close.

"You know… the Three Little Birds song?  _Don't worry about a thing, 'Cause every little thing gonna be all right,_ " she clarified, humming the well-known parts of the lyrics to him, somewhat off pitch.

"No, I don't actually. When was this released?" Klaus inquired, smiling now that things started to make sense again and her mood lifted.

"1977 or 1980, I think," the brunette tried to recall.

"Ah, well that explains it. I was busy running from Mikael in those decades. Didn't really have time to enjoy the up and coming tastes in music," the original confided in her with a playful wink.

"He is your father… I mean step-father… right?" Bella asked, looking up into his bluish-green eyes.

"You are awfully well informed," his eyes hardened with a dark emotion as he was reminded of that fact.

"Your family name is Mikaelson, and by the Nordic patronymic family name systems that would refer to your father's first name. And as you said, early settlers in America around the tenth century were of that heritage, not a big leap of faith to assume you have Viking heritage since you are clearly not Native American. Besides, it doesn't take a nuclear physicist to figure out that your father was actually someone else. I mean, come on. You are a werewolf hybrid, and your siblings are not," the girl rambled on, to tell the truth, a bit frightened by Klaus's mood swing, though she was fairly sure that his anger was aimed at the man that raised him instead of her.

"No, you are right. My biological father was a werewolf from the neighboring village, named Ansel," Klaus confided a moment later, realizing that this piece of information was of no consequence.

Her curiosity was actually an auspicious sign, one that showed that she was interested in him too. He really shouldn't squash it with his paranoiac overreactions to people knowing stuff about their family, even if secrecy and hiding were the driving force of their survival for centuries.

"What happened to him?" the agent inquired despite figuring that he must have been dead for a thousand years.

"Mikael slaughtered him in rage when he found out about my mother's infidelity. After Esther pulled him from the Other Side, I killed him a second time in order to keep Hope's survival a secret," the Original callously shrugged.

That admission shocked her for a second, then she realized that with their family history it had been an ill-advised question to ask. Yet, she wanted to know more, no matter the gory details.

"Esther is your mom's name?" she asked contemplatively.

"Yes," Klaus confirmed curtly, his face just as grim. Apparently, there was not much love lost between him and either of his parents.

"God, my dreams are so cheesy," Bella giggled as she put two and two together about the boys' names. She stepped away from Klaus, burying her face in her palms in embarrassment.

"Would you tell me what you dreamt about exactly? I have my guesses based on that phone call, but…" he inquired, itching to find out.

"There wasn't much to it. I was out in a forest like this, playing with twin boys, named Renly and Carter," the agent admitted as if that explained everything.

"And why would that be cheesy?" the original probed further.

"Let's just say I have a twisted sense of humor when naming tiny human beings," the brunette blushed hard as she thought of the dead character from that HBO show she sometimes watched after work when nothing else was going on. She had never seen the name anywhere else before, but it oddly fit the pattern.

"Based on your account, they weren't exactly human," Nik smirked.

"You know what I mean!" Bella cried out, flustered by the teasing, and almost went to punch him in the shoulder. Until she remembered that she did the same in her dream too. Maybe she should cut back on the physical violence when annoyed.

"So what is the significance of those names?" the original asked, genuinely curious.

"My mom is Renée, my father is Charlie. Put them together… Renly," she unveiled, anticipating him to laugh out loud at her.

"What about Carter?" Klaus asked without skipping a beat, completely missing the Game of Thrones reference.

What was she thinking? Why would a thousand-year-old being watch medieval-style fantasy dramas when he had lived through them?

"I'm not exactly sure on that one, though the ending definitely alludes to your mom. But I have to say I have no idea how my dream-self could have known your mother's name. This was the first time I heard of it. The beginning could be a variation of Charlie again… or… there is Carmichael. It's a Scottish name meaning 'the fort of Michael,'" the girl theorized with a shrug. The name Mikael just wouldn't work with this setup. The morbid humor was present here too. Final Destination anyone? Carter Horton? The guy who gets crushed by a giant neon sign?

"Why would the other boy's name allude to my parents?" the werewolf hybrid asked for clarification uncertainly. He had his suspicions while Bella was talking to Jacob, but he wanted to make sure he wasn't reading too much into it.

"Because you were there with us too," Bella admitted shyly, remembering the adoration he showed them.

"That doesn't mean I'm their father," he pointed out.  _Or that you are their mother for that matter._  There could have been a million reasons why they had a set of kids with them, who knew how many years in the future since they never aged. They could have been Hope's children for all they knew. She was already a weird mix of hybrid to explain any unusual wolf forms her descendants might have.

"I'm pretty sure they were yours. In human form, they looked just like me. Dark brown hair, chocolate colored eyes. But in wolf form, their fur was the exact shade of your hair, sandy, dark-blond with bluish-green eyes," the brunette insisted.

The color of the eyes was the only thing that had Klaus stumped. Theoretically, if Hope's future husband had brown eyes their children could have that, it being a dominant gene allele, but that specific shade… that was very Bella.

"I don't exactly regard Mikael as my father, you know. He was nothing but a cruel bastard to me even when he still thought I was his son."

That was a feeble argument since he still bore his last name.

"Would you prefer a wordplay on the name Ansel? Though I'm not sure what that would be. Essel or Anther just don't have that ring to it," the girl proposed playfully, trying to lighten the mood.

"No, he was no father of mine either," he shook his head.

"Then let's just pretend it's a variant of Charlie." Because it was most definitely  _not_  a play on Carlisle. Bella could just imagine the terrible names she would have come up with if she ended up with Edward and they had a dhampir daughter… Renesmee… or Carlie… okay, that second one actually isn't that bad, but still, she shuddered inwardly from just the thought. The definite knowledge that she no longer had any interest in the Cullens was uplifting though.

"Are we seriously talking about having children? How would that even be possible? I mean with Hayley the compatibility of the werewolf gene allowed that loophole, but she was still alive back then, not a hybrid," Klaus uneasy rubbed the back of his head, trying to imagine how nature could conceivably allow the birth of the children Bella was describing.

"You're right, I'm sorry. This is weird. It was just a dream. A very whacky one at that. You did say werewolf venom caused hallucinations, I'm sure that's what it was," she turned around to hide her face from him. The brunette was determined not to cry again. For some reason, she had gotten so attached to that vision, and the thought that it was a trick of her mind hurt deeply, but she was starting to see that there was no other explanation.

"Bella, I didn't mean…"  _to say that it was insane or that I was opposed to the idea_ , he wanted to reassure her, but Bella interrupted him.

"Let's hunt a bear, shall we?" the brunette declared firmly, sprinting off into the forest.

* * *

Bella stopped short a mile later as she caught the scent of her prey. Finally. She really needed that blood in her because she was starting to get annoyed with herself and her emotions being all over the place. It was almost as if her hormones were playing tricks on her. Which was impossible, right?

Klaus had stayed back a couple of paces, not wanting to disturb her hunt. A moment later she snapped her head up as she determined the source of the scent and took off running towards a small hollow in the land, where a male black bear was strutting along, unsuspecting.

The sow stood no chance against the perfect and lethal predator that Bella was. She leaped upon its back in one swift motion to sink her razor sharp teeth into its neck. The bear reared on its hind legs, trying to shake off whatever had gotten hold of it, but there was no escape. Within minutes the vampire had sucked it dry enough that it had no strength left to fight and fell listlessly on its belly while Bella finished.

The Original watched in awe. One would think that the process would be messier, but when the girl finally straightened there wasn't even a hair out of place on her, nor any specks of blood or any other evidence on her to speak of what she had just done.

Bella said a few words of gratitude and apology to the creature mentally for using it as lunch. She would have usually said it out loud, but she was in no mood for the endless teasing it would have elicited from Klaus.

"Feeling better, love?" he asked when the brunette joined him by his side again with a small smile.

"Much. Let's go home. I have a story to tell you on the way," Swan reached for his hand and began running back towards New Orleans at a more sedate pace than on the way here.

They were practically at the outskirts of the city by the time she finished, not leaving even one detail out about living in Forks, her travels and the happenings in Mystic Falls.

"You were not joking when you told me you were a danger magnet," Klaus commented dryly, trying to quell the urge to kill someone.

Preferably James, Victoria, Edward, Jasper, and Damon, exactly in that order, for causing so much pain and sorrow for his Bella. The first two were already taken care of, he supposed the last could get some leniency for offing one of them and giving him the most precious woman in the world. Not to mention that his queen regarded him as a friend after finding out his real reasons for turning her. Jasper acted merely on instinct, and Bella seemed to hold no grudge against him either. But Edward… that bastard better not show his face in front of Klaus because he would not be able to control himself. There was just no excuse for his actions, leaving his supposed love alone and broken. Who does that?

"Imagine the irony of Edward's idea of me having a long peaceful human existence," the agent snorted. No, that had never been in the cards for her.

"Clearly misguided. In your short life, you managed to find not one, but two vampire nests. I am surprised at how you even managed to survive as long as you did," the Original seconded the notion.

"No, I mean, even if I never stumbled into all of this, I probably wouldn't have made it to thirty," she amended, thinking of the many ways she had already almost died before Edward intervened. And then there was that other thing…

"I don't understand, love." Was she talking about some accident taking her?

"When I was turned, I spent my first five months with intensive research. Partially on the supernatural but other topics too. I wanted to figure out what do with myself. Going into law enforcement wasn't my only idea. I had also considered becoming a doctor," the girl began uneasily, knowing exactly how this might sound after everything she had told earlier.

"Because of Carlisle Cullen?" Klaus raised a brow at that.

"No, not really. All I knew was that I wanted to do something good. So I read some medical and anatomy books, journals. I quickly realized that the profession wasn't for me, but I came to learn some interesting things…" Bella sighed, pondering how to broach the subject, but since it was no longer of relevance to her situation, she just went on with it. "One night I was reading about demyelinating disorders, more specifically about multiple sclerosis, an auto-immune condition that affects the central nervous system, causing scars to form on the white matter of the brain, disrupting the ability of parts of the nervous system to communicate. Seeing the list of usual symptoms was like reading the story of my life. MS is a serious, often progressive, illness that gradually cripples the patient. It usually occurs in relapse/remission cycle where symptoms worsen and then get better. My symptoms never really got better after they started, but remained constant or worsened over time. That coupled with the fact that they were very early onset, my prognosis wouldn't have been good."

"How can you be sure, love?" the werewolf hybrid frowned, not liking the sound of that, not one bit.

"I'm not sure of course, I'm not a doctor, but like I said all the symptoms were there," she shrugged.

"Such as?" he probed worriedly.

"I was extremely clumsy, even as a child. I practically couldn't navigate a flat surface without finding something to trip over, usually my own feet. I got motion sickness in cars, and when I rode on Edward's back. I was a walking calamity when it came to sports, someone always got hurt, usually me, but sometimes my teammates got caught up in my graceless escapades. I had so many accidents over the years that once the doctors had contacted child services because they thought my mom was abusive or something. Renée is many things… flighty, irresponsible… but not abusive, especially not physically," the brunette recounted.

"I am no medical expert, but that's just balance issues, inner ear problem maybe?" Nik suggested. Why he was so concerned with this he didn't know since clearly, Bella was okay now, her illness cured when she became a vampire.

"There is more. You know how I talk in my sleep? When I was still human, I would usually kick my covers off at night, even bang my foot into the wall unintentionally, later waking up in the morning and not knowing how I got bruises. When I got stressed my hands shook, I constantly dropped things. You know why cold ones are called that? Their bodies are extremely cold to humans, yet it never bothered me. Or when I had to get stitched up after an accident, I barely felt the needle. The stumbling and balance problems, the shaking, the restless legs at night, the high pain threshold, insensitivity to cold on their own are pretty harmless, but when put together they point to multiple sclerosis."

The former symptoms she had been aware of all her life, but these latter parts of the picture only assembled themselves when she had researched the condition after her transformation.

"I guess we have Damon Salvatore to thank in more ways than one," the Original mused.

Not only had he saved her life from imminent threat, but he had possibly spared her from a lot of misery and humiliation that her condition would have brought, along with the early death. Damon had also made their union a feasible reality, not to mention transforming her into the most powerful creature currently known to walk the earth. The contrast with her former self as she described it was astounding.

"Yeah, so you be nice to him," Bella smirked teasingly.

"Duly noted," Klaus rolled his eyes. Of course, none of this gave immunity to Damon if he tried messing with either of the Original's future plans, but for her sake, he was willing to get along otherwise.

"If you really want to read into it, maybe even my 'mental shield' is a symptom of MS, and that is why Edward could never read my thoughts. There was just too much scarring on my brain, my mind couldn't function the same as a normal person's." That also explained why she never fit in anywhere, her lack of prowess in the physical activities not accounting for all of it. Her way of thinking was just too different from that of her peers'.

"Interesting theory, but that should have resolved along with everything else," he skeptically replied.

"Not necessarily. My thought patterns and mind adapted to having to work around a damaged brain, and even though the underlying cause got healed, those patterns stayed the same. Even got intensified because of vampirism, like everything else," the agent reasoned. Either way, there was some magic involved that explained why her abilities changed or evolved, but her immunity to mind reading even as a human was a mystery, and this explanation gave her a sense of peace. Better than the unknown.

Niklaus had no counter argument. To tell the truth, however inconvenient her resistance to compulsion and telepathy might have been in the beginning, he was glad that she was able to protect herself both physically and mentally.

"So are we going to speak of the elephant in the room?" the werewolf hybrid cleared his throat to bring the attention back to their current problem. A pesky cold one from the past wreaking havoc in her life.

"You mean Edward?" Bella asked for clarification. He could have been talking about the dream for all she knew. It was certainly on her mind.

"Obviously," he rolled his eyes.

"I'll deal with him. Somehow. I don't want him in my life.  _Obviously,_ " the agent replied with equal sass.

"It isn't such a huge leap of faith to assume you still care about him," Klaus remarked, his heart constricting from just the thought. He didn't want to lose her.

"I don't love him anymore. But I still want to handle him on my own, so please, promise me that you won't interfere," she pleaded, knowing that it could end only one way. With Klaus killing Edward. Even with everything she didn't wish that on him. That is if he left her alone.

"All right," the Original agreed begrudgingly. "NCIS is another issue."

"Yes, especially since I'm not sure Gibbs can be compelled," Bella sighed. The problem was that she had no idea how to make him drop the issue.

"What makes you say that?" the werewolf hybrid inquired with furrowed brows.

"He is… very strong-willed." And that was putting it mildly.

"Have you tried before?" he probed.

"No. There wasn't really a need, and too big of a risk," the agent shook her head.

"I could try," Klaus suggested. An original's compulsion was the strongest.

"Yes, you could, but I'm not sure you should. We are trying to keep you off their radar, remember? My biggest concern is that I don't know what they have recorded either digitally or in their personal notes. Asking about them it under compulsion, then deleting or erasing it might not solve the issue. Deleted files still leave traces, and missing notepads or pages could get them thinking and digging again." And if Gibbs was left with the slightest bit of suspicion, he would ask McGee to look into it, who would find the smallest trace left without a doubt. Neither of them had the computer skills to pull off fooling him.

"Let us think on our options further then," the dark blond man concluded as slipped into the back alley to the Abattoir.

* * *

The sight that greeted them inside wasn't exactly what they had expected. Marcel and Elijah were standing in the atrium, staring each other off threateningly, Hayley hanging onto Hope protectively, flanked by both Freya and Rebekah.

"What is the meaning of this?" Klaus asked menacingly.

"Marcellus had come to wage war on us, brother," the older Mikaelson stated simply, never taking his eyes off the African American vampire.

Her dream occurred to Bella instantly.  _Marcel is still out there, wanting revenge for Davina._

"Davina. That's what happened. She is dead," Marcel spat with disdain, confirming her theory.

"And you blame us for her death?" the werewolf hybrid inquired perplexedly. They had done nothing to harm the young witch.

"She brought back Kol. It killed her. She died for your family," he explained furiously, taking a step towards the Mikaelsons.

"We never asked her to do that," Elijah answered him this time, angling himself to stand between the threat and his love, still clutching his niece.

"That doesn't matter. After all, that is the Mikaelson way, right? Kill, maim, torture, all in the name of family. Always and forever. Diego, Thierry, Gia, Cami, Davina, everyone sacrificed for that purpose," he was grief-stricken that much was sure to the agent, not thinking rationally.

But what could he do against the Originals? He was a mere vampire, he didn't have that kind of power. And then she remembered the heart, with the Beast's blood inside it, which she had dropped when she had gone into shock back at the clearing.

"Marcel, you are family," Klaus tried to placate him, but he was far too gone, only scoffed in disbelief.

"I used to admire that vow. It gave me back the thing that had been beaten out of me. Faith in those you love. I was a fool. Always and forever is just an excuse to do whatever the hell you want. Maybe it's time someone put an end to that," the vampire flippantly declared.

"You are treading very close to a dangerous decision. I'm asking you to choose wisely," the Original hybrid warned him, his voice not threatening, only sad.

"Fair enough. You can't stop me, Klaus," Marcel shrugged.

"I only meant to keep you from crossing a line you would most certainly regret," Niklaus reiterated. It was clear that he did not want to do this, despite the way he treated the boy at times. Bella wondered about their history.

"No, you meant to keep your precious upper hand. Don't you get it? Whatever I have to do, Klaus, I will find a way to hurt you. You will never be safe, not as long as I am alive. You can call me family all you want, I am done being your friend." There was a finality in his voice. Clearly, he couldn't be reasoned with.

The older Mikaelson moved towards the guy, but the agent whipped to his side in an instant, placing a hand on his shoulder to hold him back from doing something that would come and bite them in the ass later. Quite literally. For all she knew Marcel had already managed to find a way to modify the blood and had taken it.

"Elijah. Don't," she shook her head at him calmingly.

"You have no right to interfere," he snarled at her, a rage burning in his eyes that she had never seen before.

"Bite me then!" Bella snapped back at him defiantly, then spoke to the scorned vampire. "Marcel, I think you need leave. Even if you don't fear Klaus, you most definitely should fear me. I will not stand for an all-out vampire war in a city full of innocents."

The agent could see that he was not expecting her to still be around, especially on the Mikaelsons' side after the way the Originals had treated her, dragging her into the mess with Lucien against her wishes. But he did not move from his place, too committed to the cause to back out now.

The brunette turned to the oldest sister of the family. "Freya. Revoke his invitation to the house."

"Marcellus Gerard, you are no longer welcome here. Leave," the blonde acted without hesitation, surprising even her brothers.

"This isn't over!" Marcel yelled as he was flung back out through the doors, the magic rejecting his presence.

"Why would you do that?" Elijah eyed her with suspicion, questioning her intentions. For all he knew the girl just gave the perfect opportunity for the man to regroup, recruit more to his cause.

"Freya, can you do a warding spell so that no one can listen into our conversations inside the compound?" the vampire hybrid serenely asked the witch without breaking eye contact with her brother.

"How do you even know there is such a thing?" she now decided to be skeptical. Who was this girl and how did she know so much about witch powers?

"I saw Bonnie Bennett do it," the agent replied, knowing that the family name was proof enough. Her association with the gang in Mystic Falls was no secret.

"Alright. Just give me a few minutes," Freya conceded, hurrying off to her workshop to concoct the spell.

Elijah was still staring her down, but she stood her ground. Niklaus walked up to them, having his own doubts, though the fact that his queen had stopped his brother from killing his former sire was not unwelcome.

"Klaus, tell me you had destroyed Lucien's heart," she half asked half pleaded, glancing at the werewolf hybrid warily when Freya returned, informing them that the spell had taken hold.

Klaus didn't respond, but the troubled expression on his face told her everything that she needed to know. He had been too preoccupied with her fainting to burn the last piece of their former adversary.

"We should have killed Marcel right here, right now, and ended it once for all," Elijah insisted vehemently.

"Are you really that blind or stupid? Why would he provoke you without a plan? He got ahold of Lucien's blood from the bayou. If you had killed him, it would have only turned him into the Beast, and I'm sure he had found a way to make himself even stronger than the last one. Maybe even I wouldn't be able to do anything about him this time around," Bella snapped the explanation, not having any more patience with this homicidal tendency of his that seemed to run in the family. Miraculously it had been Klaus who was the calmer of the bunch now.

"He could just as well find someone outside to kill him to complete the transformation," the Original in the suit reasoned. Like that was a good enough excuse to hurry along the process himself.

"Yes, but at least you weren't the soulless monster to do it, turning his anger even more against us," the agent sighed, rubbing her forehead. Peaceful life… where the hell have you gone?

"Oh, so it is 'us' now? Since when are you part of this family?" the older brother scoffed, still perturbed by the fact that she was making the decisions she had no right to make.

"Elijah. That is enough!" Klaus roared, his eyes sending dangerous threats at the other Original. He wanted nothing more than for Bella to be part of the family, and he was having none of the attitude from his brother. Especially when he was in the wrong. Freya's and Rebekah's eyes went wide. They never would have thought that Nik would take Bella's side.

"You'll thank me later. Besides, did you really want to kill him in front of Hope?" Bella said peacefully after a few moments, pointing to Hayley and the baby. This was the first time since this fiasco started that Elijah showed any sign of remorse. "That's what I thought."

"We should have locked him away at least then!" he seethed.

"Don't get me wrong, but both you and I know that is not a feasible option, sooner or later he would have found a way to escape, and he would have been even more furious with you afterward," she sighed. There is no such thing as a perfect prison. He could have allies they don't know of who could have come to his rescue. This was an impossible situation. Right now at least they were safe in their own home.

Hope started fussing in her mother's hands, reaching for the pretty brunette who had saved the day yet again.

"What is it, baby girl?" the once werewolf woman cooed at her daughter, who kept insisting on being let down, squirming when she saw that she wasn't going to be passed over. Reluctantly Hayley let her down when the little girl wouldn't stay still in her arms.

The moment the toddler's feet touched the ground she waddled over to the agent and reached up. Bella was shocked for a moment, but then smiled at her and picked her up.

"Hey there. I don't think we have been introduced yet. I'm Bella," Swan said to the little girl who was studying her face intently and then hugged her around the neck, laying her head on the brunette's shoulders. "Oh," she breathed out in surprise and stroked her back, glancing between the Mikaelsons to see if they had any clue as to why she was getting this reaction.

"Wow, she has never done that with strangers before," Hayley commented with wide eyes, equally amazed by the sight.

"I think she just made a new friend," Rebekah smiled adoringly at her niece.

Her dream came back to Bella's mind again. Alarmingly many details of it were coming true already. Maybe it wasn't just a dream after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some dialogue between Klaus and Marcel was taken directly or paraphrased from Originals 3x21 episode, though in a different setting.


	23. Change of pace

The NCIS agents were finally nearly at the end of their long journey to Ithaca, New York. McGee, although concerned by the situation, could have imagined a hundred better ways to spend his Sunday than driving almost five hours out of state on an unofficial investigation with Gibbs. Like taking Delilah to the park, enjoying the lovely fall weather until it lasted. Neither of them had said much on the way, which for Gibbs wasn't unusual, but Tim was starting to feel uncomfortable. They usually joked their time away when he rode with DiNozzo, making the long car trips more bearable.

The Dodge pulled up to the modern style, mansion-like home on the outskirts of the small city, only a five-minute drive away from Cayuga Medical Center where the good doctor worked. The house couldn't have been more secluded, even if they tried. Only a narrow and long gravel driveway led up to it through a forest from the main road. They almost missed the turn even when attentively looking for it.

The feds got out of the car and walked up to the front door to knock. No answer came even after the third try. They circled to the back, but there wasn't any sign of anyone being home there either. Except, they found it unlocked, which was odd. Who would leave a valuable property like this unprotected?

Guns in hand they entered, looking around. For all intents and purposes, the place looked abandoned despite the fact that there were cars in the driveway and none of the possessions seemed to be disturbed either. No sign of struggle or forced entry.

After a quick check, they had all the vehicles registered to the family's name accounted for.

"Maybe they went hiking? It is Sunday after all, and the weather is beautiful," McGee tried unsurely.

"Or they had been tipped off that we were coming and had vacated the premises," Gibbs grumpily quipped back after opening the fridge and finding it absolutely empty. Not likely that anyone planned on being there for supper. And there were no such things as coincidences. Highly improbable that the family picked right this time to go on a holiday by chance. "Did Chief Swan try to contact Bella?" he asked after a second look around.

"No," Tim replied after checking the phone records, emails, GPS data on his laptop, not finding anything suspicious.

At least that was a good sign. Even if Bella was in cahoots with the Cullens, her father wasn't. Though they didn't have any evidence of her involvement either.

"And Bella? Did she have contact with the Cullens?" he asked just to make sure, even if she probably didn't know that they were still pursuing this lead. The girl wasn't stupid, could have warned them just out of precaution.

"No on that front too," McGee shook his head.

"Just what the hell is going on then?" the team leader fumed.

"Almost as if they had a psychic or something. Edward Cullen found out that Bella was in New Orleans in less than a day, and when we decide to give them a visit they up and vanish," the younger agent dared to suggest the preposterous idea.

The pepper-haired man gave him an unimpressed stare. No. They must have a leak somewhere. "Sweep the place for any evidence."

"Got it, Boss," he nodded, thoroughly chastised for even mentioning something like this.

The house was too clean, no fingerprints, nothing. They would have sworn that the place wasn't inhabited for a long time if it weren't for the lack of dust. Someone must have come here regularly, for housekeeping if nothing else. Though they had no idea how they managed it so perfectly.

"Let's check the hospital if they know something about a Dr. Cullen," the team leader said in a gruff manner.

The case was becoming more and more peculiar by the second. A Carlisle Cullen did work there, until yesterday that is, when he had quit all of a sudden. Family emergency or something. That was  _before_  Bella Swan had been tipped off regarding the investigation by their morning call. How in the world could they have known that someone was coming to look for them?

"Uhm, Boss? All of the Cullens' phones have been disconnected, the last calls going from Alice Cullen to Edward Cullen, unanswered on Saturday evening," Tim announced after checking their phone records instead of those who might be contacting them.

"Get me everything on everyone they had regular contact with since the appearance of their identities nine years ago. And get the boy's picture to Pride to keep an eye out for. They obviously have access to some kind of federal information. She is either in bigger danger than we thought or she could be the source of that danger if this is about NCIS in any way," Gibbs said with a frown as he gestured his subordinate back to the car. There was nothing here for them to find. But something was obviously off. Way off.

* * *

"At least we don't have to worry about the evil step-mother cliché becoming a reality," Rebekah commented to Klaus quietly enough so that the brunette who was playing with Hope in the room adjacent to her nursery wouldn't hear. She was too immersed with the toddler anyway.

The werewolf hybrid had been standing by the doorway, watching them. Bella was so good with his daughter, patient and caring as they fiddled around with blocks, colors and all sorts of toys, at it for like two hours already. She was a natural with kids. The talk they had about the twin boys popped into his thoughts, and he smiled fondly. He wanted that.

Of course, the look on his face didn't evade his sister's attention.

"You really do like her," she observed, without the sarcasm or taunting like the day the agent had arrived to their home.

"Haven't we been over this already, Rebekah?" Klaus huffed, irritated by the rehashing of the topic.

"I didn't really believe it until now. I thought it was just an act to get her to cooperate," the blonde sighed. Trying to antagonize Bella had been a severe mistake on her part, and she was glad that the other girl was gracious enough to overlook her fit of sisterly jealousy.

"Well, obviously not!" Nik snapped a bit too loudly, catching Bella's attention. Hope was starting to get fussy anyway, so she gathered up the baby in her arms and made her way towards them.

"Glad I was wrong," Rebekah put her hands up in a show of backing down then took her leave.

"Hey… uhm… when do you usually put her down for a nap? I think she might be a bit tuckered out by the day's excitements," she asked glancing after the other Original, wondering what their exchange had been about.

"I'll take care of that," Hayley appeared suddenly behind them, reaching for the baby. She was a bit perturbed by the fact that a total stranger was monopolizing her daughter. She had already missed too much time with her when their clan was cursed to only being human on the full moon. She missed her first steps and everything.

Hope got even crankier when she was taken out of Bella's arms.

"Hey, don't worry, we can play again a bit later when you are not so tired anymore. It's much more fun that way," the agent cooed at the toddler soothingly, which seemed to do the trick, she stopped crying at once and let her mother take her into the nursery.

"I see you have the magic touch," he remarked, still smiling at her.

"Nah, it's just a matter of communication and recognizing that they have their own wills and priorities like we do too. They understand so much more at that age than you'd think if you just take the time to explain the situation to them instead of forcing it," she said glancing at the door behind which Hayley disappeared. When Klaus looked at her funnily, puzzled by her knowledge of child psychology, she felt the need to elaborate. "I used to babysit for pocket money when we lived in Phoenix. My mom wasn't exactly the poster child for rational spending." And that was the understatement of the year. There was always some new hobby that caught her interest and in her enthusiasm to buy supplies their grocery money sometimes suffered too.

"Doesn't sound like you had a childhood of your own," the Original frowned. Something else they shared, even if in a different sense.

Bella laughed out, drawing the man away from the door and started walking downstairs so that they wouldn't disturb the baby with their talking. "Well, yeah, sometimes I wondered too which one of us was the adult in the household, but I didn't mind. I love my mom, harebrained and all."

"What about your father?" Klaus inquired. They hadn't really talked about these things on their way back from the hunt, she just spoke of the events after she was already in Forks.

"Charlie? I love him too, of course. We are very much alike actually. Responsible. Focused. We weren't that close until I moved to Forks. I used to spend my whole summers there until I was fourteen, but I just couldn't stand the town so after that he took me to California for two weeks every summer," the agent explained. Now they were closer than ever, even if they spoke rarely. The shared profession might have had something to do with that too.

"Why did you move there then?" the werewolf was puzzled.

"My mom got remarried and they needed their space, plus Phil is a minor league baseball player, so they had to travel a lot. I didn't want my mom to have to choose between him and me," she shrugged. No one seemed to understand this choice of hers, especially since she wasn't forced to do it.

"That self-sacrificing habit of yours might not be healthy," Nik mused out loud when he realized the pattern. Moving to Forks, running into James' trap, even their initial interactions, and motivation for cooperating. How she stood up for Damon and the rest of the gang.

"You should be grateful for it. That's the only reason I decided to come to New Orleans," Bella confirmed.

"Is that the only incentive for staying?" he asked with a forlorn frown.

"No," she gave him a mysterious smile. The Original probed her for some expansion on the subject by intently looking at her, but she wouldn't say more. She didn't want to cock this up even more than she already had with the crazy baby talk earlier, no way in hell she was going to start opening up about developing feelings for the man when she had only known him for barely a week. "Tell me about your family. I'm kind of sick of only hearing my own voice."

"Believe me there is nothing worth knowing, love, and it's definitely not pretty," the Original huffed. There was no glory in the scheming and mountains of bodies the Originals managed to leave behind in their prolonged existence.

"I'm listening," the brunette insisted. There was a man behind the beast that everyone thought the werewolf hybrid to be. A broken, tortured soul the woes of whom she wanted to sooth away with caring love.

"Come," Klaus grabbed her hand and took her to the art room.

They practically talked the rest of the day away – with little intermissions here and there by Hope, who desperately wanted to spend time with the brunette – about the thousand-year-old history of the Mikaelsons, many moments of which were illustrated by the paintings of the sandy-haired man.

* * *

Monday provided a much-needed distraction from the supernatural drama that was her life now, though the agent had to put her foot down against Klaus who insisted it was too dangerous to leave the compound with Marcel prowling around. He begrudgingly saw reason when she brought up that missing work would be the opposite of conducive on their other front of problems.

Bella arrived at the NCIS field office nice and early, almost expecting to have to wait outside since she didn't have a key to the squad room's entrance yet but Pride beat her to it. Almost as if he was living there. Thinking about it, that didn't seem like a far stretch at all.

"Swan! Good, you are here," Dwayne greeted his new subordinate with a bit too much relief.

"Something happened?" she asked suspiciously.

"That obvious, huh?" the team leader sighed.

"Call it the Gibbs instinct if you want. I was taught by the best."

 _Half-truths again_ , she sighed inwardly. Right, because the fact that she could hear the minor changes in his heartbeat and breathing, undetectable to humans, had nothing to with her knowing exactly that something had riled the man up. Sarcasm ending here.

She might complain in thought about the shit storm the supernatural world had brought into her life, but in actuality that was where she could be herself, not having to hide anything. Don't get her wrong, she loved her job, but now that she had a contrast, an alternative way she could live, she didn't want to keep pretending anymore to be something she was not. Edward's parting words made so much sense to her now.

She needed to find an out that didn't raise suspicions. Staging her own death was out of the question at the moment since that would just send everyone even more on the Cullens' tail. They would jump to the conclusion that Edward had something to do with her death. Same if she disappeared. Full out quitting might draw attention to herself, they would question her reasons behind it.

"True that, true that. Look, I received Edward Cullen's photo last night from Jethro. Don't worry, we won't let anything happen to you," he tried to reassure her, and Bella had to fight to hold a snort back. Like Edward Cullen could hurt her in any way. Even the emotional power he had over her was gone now.

"Boss, excuse my language but cut the male chauvinistic crap. I'm an agent, I can handle myself, no psycho ex is going to get to me," the brunette stood her ground with a fierce look in her eyes. She had no idea what Gibbs was up to, but at least he wasn't setting her new colleagues against her, and keeping his suspicions to himself, or focused on Edward.

"Glad to hear it. We will be on the lookout for any trouble anyway," Pride stated seriously, and Bella rolled her eyes when he wasn't looking.

"Hey, it's the new girl!" a man in his mid-forties with short brown hair and blue eyes walked in just then, his voice ringing with a strong southern accent.

"Hey there to you too," she smiled, offering a hand to him. "Bella Swan."

"Christopher LaSalle, but just call me Chris or Chrissy, whichever floats your boat," he beamed at her warmly, seeming like an open and fun guy.

"Nice to meet you, Chris," the brunette chuckled. Obviously, he didn't have to worry about being taken for a girl even if someone used the other nickname. He just oozed male confidence. Klaus probably would have had a hissy fit, if he saw how familiar he was acting with her, though she knew it was no flirting, just his base personality.

"Likewise," LaSalle nodded, then turned to the team leader. "Sonja said she will meet us by the range, Boss."

"Good, then let's get going," Dwayne grabbed his jacket then headed out.

Chris had evidently been informed of Brody's departure already because he didn't question her absence.

"Don't worry, he just likes to see the skills of new members for himself," Chris reassured her when he saw her puzzled face. "We might even go have a little airsoft match since we don't have a case right now. Call it team building. Easier to trust each other in the field if we have already seen what the others are capable of."

"Interesting concept," Bella agreed with a little frown. D.C. was definitely not this laidback.

"Do you want to ride shotgun?" he asked once they were outside as he locked up, knowing that Pride would want to drive. Southern gentlemanly manners were something to spoken for clearly.

"Sure, thanks," the brunette accepted the offer.

Dwayne turned the radio on as he pulled out of the lot, and Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas came on, making Bella smile.

"Fan of Supernatural?" Chris caught her expression from the side since he was sitting in the back on the driver's side.

The question almost caught her off guard, given the talk they had with Pride on Friday, but she managed to rein in her facial expression in time before it was humanly possible to notice that anything was off.

"I'm sorry, what?" she asked neutrally, catching Pride glancing her way for a moment to see her reaction.

"You know, the TV show?" the man enthused.

"Right, I think I saw a few episodes. The one with two brothers hunting demons or something?" the agent inquired.

"That's the one!" Chris confirmed.

"Good show," Bella said with a chuckle. In reality, she had watched it all. It was no indulgence of any kind, just part of her research to know what concepts the humans had of the supernatural world. Okay, maybe it was for a bit of fun too. The portrayals of vampires were always off in some things, and she had a good laugh about it in the privacy of her home. "But I just like old rock ballads."

By the time they got to the range, there was this uncomfortable feeling in the lower half of her stomach, kind of achy, crampy, which was weird but still familiar in a way.

"Oh, shit," she muttered as the realization dawned on her, just in time as she smelled her own blood. Period cramps. But how the hell?

"What's wrong?" Sonja asked her with concern when she caught her panicked frown as she met them outside the building. Bella drew the other female agent away from the boys a bit for privacy.

"Do you happen to have a tampon or a pad on you?" she asked, counting on female camaraderie and preparedness to help her out in this pinch.

"That time of the month, huh? I feel you girl," the African American woman looked at her with compassion and dug through her purse for one.

"Thanks, you are a lifesaver," Bella breathed, heading off to find the ladies room. "I'll be just a sec," she called to the others.

Thankfully she hadn't stained her panties yet. Would have been awkward to explain why she was bleeding to a house full of vampires who would have smelled it instantly. Still a definite possibility, or more like an inevitability.

The mood swings she had yesterday made much more sense if you took PMS into account, but not how or why she had it in the first place. Bella let a heavy breath out as she stared at herself in the mirror.  _What has changed?_  The only thing she could come up with was the werewolf venom, but it just made absolutely no sense. Why would that affect her like this?

The vivid dream she could chalk up as a hallucination, though she had a nagging feeling that was not it. The experience felt real, she perceived even her own thoughts regarding the situation as it happened, along with every other sensory input. She foresaw Marcel becoming a problem, which he still would be in two years' time if the dream was indeed prophetic. Then there was her instant connection to Hope. They were fast friends, that much was accurate enough.

 _Get it together, Bella_ , she sighed, slapping herself lightly on both cheeks.  _This is no time to dwell on this._

She headed back out, joining the others for this little exercise. Sonja smiled at her with sympathetic encouragement.

First, they went to the target practices, everyone in their own booth, except Bella had Pride watching over her shoulder to see what she was doing. Thankfully no amount of distraction – at least of human magnitude – affected her concentration, and she fired her Sig-Sauer P228 sidearm three times in swift succession. Two right in the heart and the third in the dead center of the head of the target. She pushed the button to reel the target to themselves, feeling a bit smug. Take that skill assessment!

"Impressive," Dwayne commented proudly.

"Thanks, Boss," Bella smiled, sending the target back in its place and firing off the rest of her clip at it, each landing in the exact spot she intended them to go.

"Alright, how about a friendly match at the airsoft court, two-on-two?" the team leader suggested, causing Chris to glance at Bella with an "I told you so" look.

"Girls vs. boys like last time?" LaSalle proposed with a shit-eating grin, winking at Sonja, anticipating a relatively easy win. He and the King were like a power team. Percy was unamused.

"I think you forget I have Ms. Superstar now," she taunted. She had seen Bella's shooting, and with her reputation, she doubted they would be going down easy.

"Bring it on, girls!" Chris rose to the challenge. "Losers buys lunch for the other team!"

* * *

Klaus was playing with his phone absentmindedly. He had promised Bella to leave the Cullen boy alone, but his mere existence was just grating against the Original's nerves. Especially, since he knew just the people who could easily take care of him, in a way that was practically impossible to be traced back to him. The brunette had already anticipated that they might get involved if Edward got any more conspicuous in the eye of the feds anyway. Is she ever found out though that he was the one to contact them… That would shatter Bella's trust in him. Should he do it nevertheless?

 _Not yet_ , he decided. His queen said she would handle it. If the cold one is not gone by Tuesday, the Original would take the necessary steps to wipe him off the face of the Earth permanently.

* * *

The tactical airsoft arena was just at the other side of the street. The agents geared up in no time, already set in their positions, waiting for the start signal.

Bella had never fired these kinds of weapons, they were much lighter, as well as the plastic BB rounds that went into the clips, but she adjusted her aiming to them in no time, only firing twice to get the hang of it once the round began.

With her senses, she knew exactly where the boys were, but taking them out without as much as giving them a chance would really have been cheating. Not to mention, the fun would have been taken right out of the whole thing too.

The match had been ongoing for five minutes, and both teams were eager to corner the other in the urban, concrete setting the airsoft field had.

Bella's hand signaled Sonja to move to another shelter closer to LaSalle – since he and Pride had split up – while she supported her with covering fire. Before she even started firing, the guy provided a way too good opportunity to miss as he peered around a corner to check if the coast was clear. From her angle, she had a clear shot at him, though the distance was a bit farther than what would have been a comfortable shot. She took it anyway, figuring that her earlier display of skill allowed her this much leeway, and hit him right in the helmet with three successive shots.

"OUT!" he yelled with his hands up in the air and left the field. Bella smirked to herself. Served him right. No one should underestimate girls just because of their gender.

Firing those shots gave her position away, so she ducked and rounded to the other side of the building she had been hiding behind. Sonja was already in place, as per their strategy, well concealed from their enemy, her eyes on the target. Pride was about to follow Swan to eliminate her, taking advantage of the fact that she had her back wide open when a couple of BB rounds hit him in the chest.

"Well played," the team leader admitted. He walked right into the trap, assuming that both girls were making a push for the other side and that they hadn't realized that he had gotten behind them while they were occupied with Chris. Instead, Sonja had doubled back on him. "Though dangerous if you were in the field." Swan's rear had been so unprotected, it wasn't even funny, not even with taking it is a deliberate move on her part into account.

"We are not. I never would have suggested a strategy like this for a real gunfight. Not to mention, it would have been over much sooner. I just didn't want to ruin the game," Bella winked, with a hint of smirk dancing at the corner of her mouth.

Dwayne didn't know what to say to that. They were pretty sure with LaSalle that they had their bases covered throughout the whole thing. Maybe she was just bluffing.

"Alright ladies, where shall we take you?" Chris inquired, not at all perturbed by the loss, making him an even more sympathetic character. No one liked sore losers.

They ended up going to homely diner suggested by Sonja, supposedly making the best damned burgers in the whole of NOLA. Halfway through the meal, Bella's phone went off. It was the real estate agent helping her with the apartment hunt. She had forgotten entirely about that. Did she still want to move out from the compound? Not really. But she needed an official address to go on file at NCIS anyway, and that was sure as hell not going to be the Abattoir.

"Swan," she answered after quickly swallowing the bite in her mouth.

"Hi, it's Mandy from Zillow, is this a good time?" the woman asked in a thickly sweet tone, a bit too friendly and familiar for Bella's taste from a professional talking with a client.

"Sure, did you find anything worth looking at?" Bella inquired as she sipped on her coke, amused by the questioning stares her colleagues were giving her.

"Yes, dear, there this beautifully decorated, refurbished one bedroom apartment on Esplanade Ave just outside of the quarter for only $1350. It's a sweet deal if you ask me, but you have to act fast if you want it," the redhead pushed, making the agent roll her eyes. Marketing bullshit. She will believe it when she sees it. The price was way too much, but she had her tricks.

"When can you show it to me?" the agent inquired, unashamedly continuing to eat her fries through the conversation.

"In a half an hour?" Many suggested unsurely. She was aware that looking at the apartment during work hours was always tricky for clients, but they really couldn't wait any longer on this one, since the owner already had another potential tenant.

"I'm at work, but let me get back to you in a minute if I can make it," Bella said before hanging up.

"Who was that?" Pride inquired with thinly veiled curiosity.

"Realtor. I'm still on the apartment hunt. Is it a problem if I go check this one out?" the brunette asked, pretty sure it was alright since they still didn't have a case.

"No, not at all," he shook his head.

"Thanks, Boss." With that, she quickly wolfed down the rest of her lunch and stood up to head out. "I'll be an hour at the most, see you guys back at the office."

"Wait! How are you…" Sonja snapped her head up. Bella didn't come with her own car, and they were pretty far from the French Quarter. But the new girl was outside faster than the speed of lightning before she could finish. "Going to get there?"

"Taxi, I guess," Chris shrugged, not too concerned.


	24. Something old, something new

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will contain lemon from about the half-way point (there will be warning before that part too, if you want to skip it). The rating of the story was changed to M because of it, but I'm not planning to litter this story with more descriptive sex scenes so don't worry if you aren't into that, but I figured their first should be pretty detailed since it's a significant plot point. Just thought I give you a heads up.

Before she slunk into a side street to run at vampire speed, she called Mandy back and asked for the exact address. She had about ten minutes to make it there, which would have been no problem if she could run the whole way. Unfortunately, there were parts of town where there were just too many people milling about and absolutely no cover at all for her to move at vampire speed, so she had to make due at a human pace, which royally sucked if you asked her.

The brunette walked around the corner just in time to meet the redheaded woman as she was getting out of her car. The apartment that was shown to her was charming, the layout and size superbly comfortable for one person. The browns, beige and white was the perfect color scheme for her, just as she liked it.

Bella asked to speak with the owner in private and "negotiated" the price to $1000. That was the top limit of her budget.  _A federal agent's paygrade, Y'all._ Damn, the south was really growing on her. She was already speaking their lingo in thought.

In any case, even with Klaus in her life and them growing closer and closer together, she wasn't going to start asking for money from him. That's just not the type of person she was. No matter how much extra he had just lying around. Her pride was just not having it and never would. Bella loved her independence, and that would never change; even if the events of her dream would come to pass.

On her way back she also popped by a drugstore to buy some tampons and other feminine hygiene products she never thought she would have a need for again after becoming a vampire hybrid. How she was going to explain these turn of events to Klaus later on – because he was inevitably going to ask – she still didn't know.

Back at NCIS, the day was still pretty laid back, no new case, so not much to do really. Sonja showed her the ropes with all the filing cabinets, and the system in which they organized the paperwork and so on. Pretty basic, she had it memorized on the first go.

At the end of the day, Pride invited them for a friendly night out to show Bella the town, to throw down a couple of beers and have them get to know each other. Bella had the suspicion that this was a cover for not leaving her be alone until the Edward Cullen threat was cleared up.

 _Just great._  She texted Klaus so that he wouldn't worry about her getting back to the compound later than expected, though the Original had never asked her to check in with him.

Chris was teasing Sonja about something as they walked down the street to find a pub – though it seemed like the others knew exactly where they were headed – when Bella noticed the cold one standing well-hidden in an alley, watching her intently. The brunette froze for a fraction of a second but recovered before anyone was the wiser, and kept pace with the group.

She had expected all sorts of memories and lingering hurt to stir up from seeing her high school sweetheart, but she only felt anger and not even for the way he had disappeared on her all those years ago when he had left her alone in the forest. No, the agent was enraged because he was here, right now, staring at her with puppy dog eyes, as if that would solve everything. Did he seriously expect her to forget it all and take him back after all this time? Not to mention the seriously unneeded mess and stress he was creating in her life. She absolutely didn't want anything to do with him. If she never saw him ever again, it would be still too soon.

Bella pretended to take an interest in some shop windows to turn away from the group and whispered in a tone too low and fast for the humans to hear.

"What the hell are you doing here? I told Alice that you should leave me alone. Did you not get that message? Not to mention the fact that NCIS is investigating you, believing that you are stalking me and on high alert because of your false identities. If you value your privacy, you'll get the hell out of here fast," the girl informed him in a forced calm tone. "Don't get me wrong, I don't care what happens to you personally, but you are seriously jeopardizing the secrecy of the supernatural world, and thus my anonymity too. Leave. And don't come back."

She allowed herself one quick glance to the place he had stood after she was done with her monologue, but he was already gone.  _Good. Let's pray it stays that way,_ she sighed to herself. Her words might have been cold and heartless, but honestly, he really shouldn't have expected anything better after all these years.

Her sour mood must have shown on her face because Sonja turned to her with concern written all over her features.

"Doing okay, Swan? You are awfully quiet," she commented.

"Yeah, just cramping," Swan lied. In actuality, her morning troubles had cleared up by late afternoon, and as far she could tell even the bleeding had stopped.

Whether this was due to her healing factor or her earlier theory – that she was menstruating despite the fact that she shouldn't be able to – was wrong, she didn't know. She was way over her head on this one, but bringing it up with Klaus would have been awkward on way too many levels, so she was going to keep quiet about it, if and until he didn't notice that something was off on his own.

"You don't have to push yourself, we can do this another time. I'm sure the boys would understand," her fellow agent offered in a hushed tone so that said males wouldn't overhear them.

"Nah, I'm good," Bella smiled at her reassuringly.

Funnily enough, the French Quarter was packed with Irish pubs (talk about mixed culture), but it wasn't one of these that they had decided on. As it turned out, Pride owned a bar of his own. Go figure.

Everyone got various beers from the tap, and they settled in a booth, sharing anecdotes from the job. LaSalle started out as a cop too. Deputy Sheriff to be exact. While Sonja came to NCIS from ATF, going mostly undercover to bust drug and arms dealers. Pride and Gibbs went way back, to the early days of NIS. No wonder the transfer went over so smoothly. Apparently, favors had been called in.

"So what about you, Swan?" LaSalle turned to her with a grin, eager for her to spill the beans.

"My father is a cop, I guess it runs in the family," the brunette shrugged her shoulders, leaning back against her seat with arms crossed. "After high school, I did some soul searching and traveling before signing up for the Police Academy. MPD had me for a few years before NCIS swooped me up."

"Come on, it can't be that straightforward! Your father must have been really strict with you. No rebelling, excessive drinking just to piss him off?" Chris inquired incredulously.

"I didn't grow up with him for the most part, and no, no drinking. I was the responsible one," she explained with a mysterious smile, opting to answer only half of the question. Oh, there was plenty of rebelling on her part when it came to vampire boyfriends.

"Alright Miss Goody-two-shoes, I challenge you! Which one of us can drink more beer without falling over?"

 _Oh-ho-ho. Did you seriously just challenge a vampire to a drinking game?_   _Tomorrow was a workday… but hey, man, your loss! Don't come complaining about a headache though._  Hangovers were an obvious non-issue for her since it would take at least two bottles of hard liquor to even get her to a semi-inebriated, tipsy state.

"You're on," Bella smirked at him confidently, which threw him off his game. He expected protest or at least some reluctance on her part. So she decided to throw him another curveball and leaned forward onto the table to make her counteroffer. "But how 'bout we make this more interesting and step it up to something more substantial than beer?"

"Ten shots? See who is more sober by the end?" he proposed nonchalantly.

"Make that fifteen," the brunette raised the pot still smirking like the Cheshire Cat.

Sonja was looking at them both like they were crazy, especially Bella. Excessive drinking on your period? A surefire way to get hammered.

"Slow down there kids, it's a school night," Pride chuckled at them trying to one-up the other.

"You've got yourself deal, sweetheart," LaSalle ignored his boss and offered his hand to their new team member to shake on it.

* * *

Christopher was barely keeping it together by the time they were finished. Bella was just barely tipsy, enjoying her unquestionable win quite a bit.

"I should head out," she said, looking at the time. Her inhibitions were dampened by the alcohol, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up with her Original. Hers? Well, she didn't quite have a claim on him – yet – nor did she know if he was the cuddling type, but at the moment she couldn't care less about such trivial details. She wanted him, and wanted him now!

"Alright, I'll walk you home," Dwayne insisted, still wary of the Edward situation.

"I'll be fine, my friend's house isn't far. You should take care of Romeo here," the brunette grinned, gesturing at LaSalle.

"Whaaat? M'fine," he slurred his words, barely keeping his head lifted, propping himself up on the elbows.

"Yeah, and I'm the mother of a llama. See you guys tomorrow," Bella laughed and quickly headed towards the door before anyone could follow her out.

 _"_ _Girl's got a mean disappearing act,"_ the vampire heard Sonja comment inside, making her chuckle.

_Yeah well, sorry, Sister. I just can't have you guys digging deeper into my life._

She was just a block away from the Abattoir when someone quietly called out to her from the shadows.

"Bella…" Edward breathed in relief to find her alone so that they could finally talk.

"Are you a fucking idiot or something?" the brunette seethed, pushing him further into the alley before anyone would notice him. "I told you to leave."

"I know we couldn't risk NCIS spotting me, thank you for the warning," he beamed at her, totally oblivious to how unwelcome he was before he frowned. "Swearing like that is so not like you. And have you been drinking?"

Edward was puzzled about how that was even possible without making herself sick or having to hurl it up back later but figured her type of vampires were somewhat different in this regard too.

"What do you know about who I am or what I do, huh? The girl you used to know doesn't exist anymore!" Bella forcefully whispered, poking the bronze haired cold one in the chest accusatorially, wanting to yell at the top of her lungs, but not daring to risk getting discovered by anyone. What right did he have to chastise her for anything?

"I know that a lot has changed, that you were turned into a vampire. I am so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen to you. If I'd known…" Edward looked down at her with sorrowful almost jet-black eyes, the purplish circles more pronounced than she had ever seen (though that could have been because she had only seen them through human eyes before).  _Geez, when did you feed last? Why the hell are you putting the humans at risk?_

"Then what? You'd have never left? That ship has sailed, Edward," the agent huffed, crossing her arms defensively.  _Utter bullshit._

"I know, I know. Please, let me make it up to you. I still love you, always have. I just thought that you would be safer without me in your life. That you could have a normal, human, existence." Again the same self-centered mantra he kept telling himself to justify the way he had treated her.

"See that's the problem. You never take into consideration what I want! And what I want right now is for you to leave and never come back," she hissed, trying to drill this fact into his thick skull, but seemingly he wasn't even listening.

"I realize you are angry. You have every right to be. But we can move past this. Work things out," Cullen stepped closer to her, running the back of his hand on her cheek.

"I. Do. Not. Love. You. Anymore," Bella spelled it out for him, her temper rising to dangerous levels as she swatted his hand away.  _What a creep! Not to mention delusional!_  Sometimes she really couldn't understand what she had loved about him in the first place. "I can't make this any more clear. I don't want your crappy apology. You are six years too late for that. And I most definitely don't want you anymore. You are no good for me."

"I deserved that," he sullenly sighed at his own words being thrown back in his face. But still didn't move to leave.

"You deserve a lot worse, but honestly you are not worth my time. This is the last time I'm going to say this nicely. Leave. Me. Alone. And stop messing with my life," the brunette turned around to leave him wallow in his misery when suddenly he grabbed her by the arm to stop her.

"Please, just…" Edward pitifully started to beg when something flung him all the way across to the other end of the alley.

"The lady said no! Now back off!" Klaus growled at the cold one. He promised her not to interfere, but he couldn't stand to listen to the conversation anymore when the Cullen boy wouldn't budge even after the third warning. He was so attuned to Bella's voice that her angry tone caught his attention back at the compound instantly and he had come rushing out when this argument seemed to go nowhere.

"Thanks, but I could have handled that," Bella pouted, though grateful. She wasn't some damsel in distress, needing rescue. She could have crushed Edward at any moment she chose to, and despite the noninterference promise she had coaxed out of Klaus, she was glad he cared enough to come see what was going on.

"I know, love, but it's fun to be the hero for once," the Original smirked at her, causing her to roll her eyes, before turning his death glare back on Edward. "If I ever see you, or so much as catch your scent in my city, you are as good as dead. Do we have an understanding, brat?"

The cold one didn't reply, just nodded and disappeared into the night. It took every ounce of his self-control to not rip the bastard to shreds right then and there. The only thing keeping him back was the fact that Bella was watching.

When they were sure that Edward was really gone and well out of earshot, the vampires glanced at each other, and time seemed to freeze. There was an electric charge building between them, ready to send sparks flying everywhere. Without thinking Bella thrust herself against him, seeking out his mouth with her own to ease the hunger inside her. The werewolf hybrid responded in kind, growling in pleasure into her mouth before hitching her up to sit on his waist with one fluid motion, while she wrapped her legs around him.

"Make love to me tonight," Bella murmured seductively, smiling against their almost touching lips. This was it. Finally losing her virginity.

"Love, is everything alright? Did he hurt you? I thought I smelled your blood," Klaus snapped out of their romantic bubble for a second, concern etching his face, not thinking rationally enough to realize that there was nothing the cold one could have done that would have actually drawn blood.

"Yes, everything is fine. Take me, please," the brunette responded by kissing him again, effectively making the werewolf hybrid forget his worries. She had removed every evidence of her morning episode earlier in the bar when she went for a bathroom break, so the coast was clear in her books. The scent of blood of course still lingered around her, but not strong enough to really warrant further questioning.

The original didn't need any more persuasion than that, he whooshed themselves at vampire speed to his bedroom in the compound, ignoring the questioning stares of everyone as they swished past them, including Kol whom Elijah found yesterday after the news that Davina had resurrected him hit them. Bella was already eagerly yanking his shirt off of him before her butt even touched the bed, taking the initiative despite her lack of experience.

* * *

**Lemon warning, if you don't want to read it skip the rest of the chapter :)**

* * *

Klaus set her down so that his hands would be freed and his queen could finish underdressing the upper half of his body without ripping his grey long-sleeved shirt that he was wearing. Not that he cared that much, but Bella specifically asked him to make love to her, and that was precisely what he intended to do. Nice and slow, and oh so tender. No need to rush and be rough right at the start.

As his muscled torso and well-toned abs were unveiled Bella actually groaned appreciatively. He had a tattoo above his left pectoral, spilling over onto his shoulder. A feather transforming into half a dozen birds flying away. She had also never noticed before that he was in the habit of wearing not one, but two necklaces under his shirts. One of them a cross, the other a fang pendant hanging on beaded chains. She filed away that information for later analysis, right now too occupied by the humming sensation coursing through her veins, centering in a powerful pull around her core, to dwell on the significance or philosophy behind choosing those symbols.

The brunette trailed her hand along his stomach, up at his side as far she could reach. His skin was hot with lust under her touch as she peered up at him. Klaus held her gaze, his expression full of predatory desire. He was going to make her his.

The Original sunk down to his knees so that he would be level with the girl sitting on his bed and kissed her again passionately, his right hand finding his way to the nape of her neck, holding her firmly in place. Bella drew him closer, irritated with the amount of clothes still between them as she dipped her nails harder into his back. As if reading her thoughts Niklaus reached to her shoulders, and with a swift move, threw her black leather jacket off of them, letting it fall around her elbows before yanking it off as she released her embrace, never breaking the contact of their lips.

Without hesitation he found the hem of her burgundy camisole top, leaving her in her black lace bra for now. She had honestly not expected the night to turn out this way in the morning when she got dressed, but she was grateful for whatever guidance she got from above that made her wear her nicer lingerie. Her breasts weren't all that big (36A, though seemed smaller without the beneficial boost of her push-up bra), but she was long past feeling self-conscious about them. Whoever thought that she was less of a woman because of their size honestly didn't deserve her.

Nik fondled her tits through the fabric, applying just enough pleasure to make the sensation teasing and tantalizing, but not painful, while his lips wandered to the side of her neck, nibbling, biting without breaking the skin or leaving any mark. Bella gasped, giving voice to her arousal as she wrapped her legs back around his waist, wishing for them to be able to just melt into one another.

The werewolf hybrid pushed her down onto the bed, making her grown in frustration at the loss of contact. Klaus just smirked as he unzipped the side of her boots at vampire speed, yanking them off along with her socks, before reaching for her belt to undo her pants.

When he had freed her from the denim too, he quickly undressed himself to his boxer briefs, not wanting to waste any more time. Within a second Klaus was picking her up and resituating themselves further up on the middle of the king-sized bed.

As he lay on top of her, their bodies flush against each other, he tucked his right hand under her hips to pull her even closer while he propped himself on his other elbow. Bella had her arms around his neck, playfully tugging on his hair as their mouths explored each other's, savoring the sweet taste that sent as pleasurable current right into her groin.

The brunette felt as if she was on fire and couldn't imagine the sensation to get any more intense than that until Klaus reached even further down, past her ass, right between her legs from behind and started massaging her vulva. The height difference between them came in handy this time. She moaned involuntarily, her back arching off the bed, even though at the moment he was still doing it through the fabric of her panties.

Klaus smirked in response, quite enjoying her pleasure, the evidence of which was already soaking her panties. He proceeded to feather kisses along her cheek, down her jawline, then her neck, pausing as he arrived at the soft mounds of her cleavage. Abandoning his ministrations further down south for a moment, he unhooked her bra which she helpfully allowed to by raising her back off the bed when she realized what he was trying to do. She felt exposed with her last line of defense gone from her upper body but decided to embrace it since there was no other man she wanted to this with.

Once the girls were freed by the Original, he bent down to pay proper attention to them. Suckling on one while his hands took care of the other. Her nipples hardened instantly, standing at attention, awaiting what else the man had in store for them. Sensual vibes raced through her, radiating right between her legs, rendering her mute for just a moment before her breathing sped out of control, taking her higher and higher. She had been wrong before, the enticing agony  _could_  be turned up even higher.

"Please…" Bella whimpered when the sensation got too intense, willing Klaus to push her over the edge already, the teasing getting more and more unbearable, though in a good way.

"What is it that you want, love?" he seized his ministrations, looking up at her with a playful bad-boyish smirk, knowing full-well the effect he was having on her, and thoroughly enjoying every moment of it.

"You… ah… now…" the girl managed to breathe as new waves of pleasure hit her again since Klaus never stopped pinching and pulling on her right tit.

"All in due time, my beautiful Bella," the werewolf hybrid murmured, winking at her before switching up which breast of hers he was entertaining with his mouth and which one with his hand.

The brunette groaned in frustration at first but quickly lost the edge of her vexation when another influx of delicious diversion provided by yours truly hit her as he mischievously pinched her a bit harder, making gasp and squirm.

His rude but very welcome shenanigans made her bold, and with a quick decision, she capitalized on her superior strength, switching their positions. Now she was on top, straddling the Original. Klaus enjoyed the full frontal view of his love, relishing in every square inch of her perfectly flawless pale skin, the slight reddening around her breasts caused by his less than gentle fingers hidden by her mahogany locks falling over them in gentle curls.

Bella bit down on her lip as she watched him give her the once over and brazenly ground herself against his hardened length, causing him to hiss in pleasure this time. Klaus grabbed her hips on each side and pushed her down for even more friction, his eyes burning with desire. The vampire hybrid could very easily imagine getting lost in his bluish-green eyes.

Taking advantage of her distraction, Klaus flipped them back over, causing Bella to yelp in surprise then giggle. A lovely sound, resonating with his heart. He wanted to finish what he had started and tugged her lace underwear off before nibbling his way down to her nether parts.

He hadn't quite expected them to be entirely devoid of any pubic hair, smooth and peachy just the rest of her skin. Nonetheless, he quickly got over his shock and ran his thumb over her clitoris in circles, smiling to himself when he had found just the right spot, signaled by Bella's mewl as she started fisting the sheets beneath her.

After a minute of this relentless cycle – driving her to the edge before withdrawing stimulation, and thus winding up Bella tighter than a coil of spring – Klaus thrust a finger into her, causing her to cry out. Neither of them cared who heard, the outside world was dead to them.

He playfully licked her sweet nectar off his finger, watching her roll her eyes, but the grin never leaving her face. For a ghost of a second, he believed there was just a tinge of blood to her flavor but instantly dismissed the thought in favor of focusing on pleasuring her.

"Exquisite," Niklaus hummed before going down on her, Bella blushing furiously.

The brunette decided to favor his hair over the sheets and began to play with his lock, always pulling on them a little harder when he hit a sweeter spot. Her breathing was starting to speed out of control as he continued the merciless onslaught of the combined tongue and finger action.

"Klaus… ah…" Bella managed to moan as she felt herself climax, the pulsation, and hot burning getting stronger and stronger at her core. There was just no comparison to the all-consuming sensation, demanding all of her attention. She wouldn't have been able to tell her own name if asked right at this second.

Desperate for more friction she thrust her pelvis up for a better angle, his slight stubble making contact with her over-sensitive skin, finally sending her over the edge and she exploded around his finger, every muscle in her reacting to the waves of gratification that rolled over her as she rode out her orgasm.

There were just no words to describe it all, her mind was an utter jumble as she slowly came back down, hindered by the aftershocks caused by the feather-light ministrations of the werewolf hybrid's fingers on her clitoris.

Klaus came back up to her level, lying on his side, facing her, his face in a shit-eating grin, very pleased with himself and the job he did. Bella desperately wanted to reciprocate, though wasn't exactly sure how. Once she had her breathing under control enough, she pushed the man onto his back and started a similar course of treatment like he had given her, kissing and caressing him from his neck all the way down to the edge of his boxers.

The brunette pulled the last piece of clothing off of him too, and his erection sprung free. For a moment Bella wondered how he would even fit inside her. She tentatively began stroking his shaft, getting braver by the second as Klaus groaned appreciatively, his head falling back against the pillow, giving himself wholly over to the sensation.

Bella smirked, licking her lips before bending to take his penis into her mouth, circling her tongue below his glans, exploring which of her movements made him tick, then took his whole length in.

"Ah…" the man groaned in surprise, his eyes popping wide open to watch his love pleasure him.

Her hair was obscuring his view, hiding her face, which he desperately wanted to see. There was just something profoundly erotic in the sight of Bella with his cock in her mouth. He swept her hair away, guiding her to look up at him with one hand while she continued her relentless back and forth along his shaft, sucking and her tongue doing flips that were driving him crazy. If this kept up for too long, he would be coming alright in no time. This was not how he wanted to go.

Instead of letting her continue her ministrations Klaus quickly sat up and with a practiced move, as if she weighed no more than a feather, he drew Bella up to sit on his lap, facing him, her legs to either of his sides. She looked confused as to why he had stopped her, wondering if she had done something wrong, but his kiss made her forget her worries. His arms were around her waist and back, holding her firmly in position, their bodies singing in unison, almost melding into one.

"Are you sure, love?" the Original asked one last time. He had no idea how he got so lucky. He imagined with how their relationship initially started, turning her opinion around would have taken a lot more time.

"Yes, I want this. I want you," Bella confirmed, looking into his eyes seductively.

Klaus slid her onto his massive erection, and she cried out a little at the foreign sensation. The momentary pain subsided, and all was left was the enticing, drive-you-crazy fullness and friction. The girl began to move up and down, her instincts taking control as to what she was supposed to do.

The obsession people seemed to have with sex made sense to her finally. As she continued to ride him, she felt herself build again, her skin still oversensitive from the previous experience. Her nails clawed into his chest as she moaned, and Klaus guided her to a faster pace by matching her rhythm, thrust for thrust.

"Jesus… fucking… Christ…" she breathed, the orgasm hitting her even harder than last time. The girl let her head fall against his shoulder once she was coming down. The quivering and pulling of her core muscles almost sent Klaus over the edge too, but he still had other plans for themselves.

"Sorry, love, wrong guy," the Original teased with a smirk, making her giggle. "Should I be jealous?" Earning himself a slap on the shoulder. But she was in blissful place, no boyish mischief could undo that. As a matter of fact, it added to the charm. She loved him just the way he was.

He gently rolled themselves over, now the brunette under him, never breaking their contact. Klaus continued kissing her neck, inhaling the scent of her hair like it was a drug to him. When she seemed to have caught her breath, he began his thrusts again, first slow and sensual, then picking up their pace. Bella wrapped her legs again behind his back, and the change in angle drove him crazy, somehow just perfect as her hot core engulfed him. Within seconds he was coming too, and hard, groaning into her ears as he collapsed on top of her, barely keeping himself propped on his elbows.

Klaus rolled to the side a few moments later, not wanting to squish her. Bella pouted at the loss of warmth and contact as he finally withdrew from her, but he quickly pulled her to himself, encouraging her to lay her head on his chest. Cuddling? Just as she imagined. Even if the hour leading up to it was nothing like anything she could have concocted in that mind of hers. Not even in her wildest dreams.


	25. Clues

Bella lay there in Klaus's embrace in post-coital bliss, running circles into his chest with the tip of her fingers. The werewolf hybrid was quiet, contemplating the sudden turn of events in their relationship, a bit insecure about the fact that her encounter with her former boyfriend had been the catalyst to get them to this place. Not that he wasn't happy…

"Thank you," she said, drawing him out of his thoughts, oblivious to the turn they have taken. "I couldn't have asked for a better first."

Nik looked at her funnily. He had never even considered the fact that she might have been a virgin, especially with how natural she seemed to be, no shyness or shame expressed at exposing herself to a man.

"How did you manage to avoid sex for so long?" the Original quirked a brow at her incredulously. She was 24 years old, for cry out loud, few made it that far without losing their V-card in this day and age.

"Wasn't interested thus far," Bella giggled in embarrassment.

No, she was fixating on Edward and her abandonment issues this whole time, too blind to respond to advances from the other gender. Not to mention the fact that she was a bit fearful of trying to get it on with a human, the indoctrination she heard from her former boyfriend on the risks involved for the weaker party too ingrained in her mind to try without proper motivation.

That motivation would have been love, but she never actually found anyone she liked enough for her desire to get past the wall of inhibitions. She just wasn't too inclined to hazard killing someone by accident and having to give up her job for a hook-up. All of those concerns were a moot point with their current set up. This was neither a one night stand nor was Klaus easily breakable. Thank God!

"You are welcome then, dear," he chuckled, rubbing her arm affectionately.

Bella tensed then for a moment, a realization hitting her. They didn't use any protection… It never even occurred to her, too caught up in lust to remember or care. But her dream was just that, right? Nothing would come of this? Whatever happened in the morning was not a sign of fertility, right? I mean it would have been way too early in the cycle anyway… Right?

"What's wrong?" Klaus inquired, sensing her sudden change in mood.

"I just remembered my dream," the brunette admitted, deciding there was no point in lying really.

The Original beside her went rigid for a fraction of a second too, before relaxing.

"Whatever the outcome, I don't mind," the werewolf hybrid said, then drew Bella's face up to look at him when she didn't respond. "On the off chance that you are able to conceive from me, know that I love you, and will love our children too. All right?"

The confession hit her right in the heart, and the emotion overtook her, making her eyes dewy.

"I love you too," Bella whispered as a single teardrop escaped, making its way down her cheek.

Klaus caught it with a kiss and brushed the rest off with his thumb from under her eye.

"Well then there is no problem, is there? Come here, love, let's get some sleep," Nik pulled her even closer before throwing a blanket over themselves. They drifted off to sleep almost instantly.

The boys joined her in her slumber again. They were just teeny-tiny little babies this time, looking no more than a few months old. Bella couldn't make out specific scenes, they all just blurred together, her feeding them, doting on them affectionately, watching them sleep in their crib. As the images swirled around her, she smiled in her sleep and snuggled closer to Klaus.

* * *

There was an odd bounce in her steps as Bella made her way to the NCIS field office the next morning. Even caught herself humming a bubbly tune, grinning to herself like a maniac whenever she remembered waking up in Klaus's bed. She also loved the fact that all of the Originals seemed to be night owls because ever since she arrived into the town, there wasn't even one morning where she had to dodge awkward questions at the breakfast table. On this particular morning, this was an exceptionally lucky habit of theirs. No one was in sight to grill her about the sudden change in relationship status, allowing her to eat her breakfast in peace before heading out to work. Small blessings.

"Someone is in an awfully cheerful mood," Sonja remarked instantly with an all-knowing smirk as her female coworker came in through the green double doors. She was fiddling with the last remnants of the paperwork associated with their previous case, filing everything away into the cabinets behind her.

"You know… the weather's nice. You don't realize how depressing D.C. can be until you skip the joint," the brunette lied, setting her bag down on the desk on Sonja's left.

Though on second thought there was some truth to her statement. Fall always set in a lot faster up there, whereas in the Crescent City the temperature was still comfortably in the 70-80s region. Also, the sun  _did_  seem to be shining brighter that morning if you asked her.

"Alright… if that's what you want to call it," Percy shrugged it off, not wanting to push her for details, realizing they weren't that close as colleagues to speak of personal stuff with each other just yet.

Pride came barreling down the stairs from his office right at that moment, completely oblivious to their banter.

"Dead Marine in Belle Chasse. Come on, guys," Dwayne said to them with a frown, already making his way out to the cars, bumping into a very,  _very_  hungover LaSalle. "Percy, you better drive the other car. Swan with me," he added, tossing the keys to Sonja from the rack, because sure as hell Chris wasn't in any shape for that, even though usually he was their other driver.

"I guess I'm riding with the boss then," Bella mumbled as she glanced at Sonja, getting her gun and badge from her drawer. The other girl just shrugged her shoulders, having no idea what this could be about.

Once they were on the road, Pride glanced to his right at Bella, pondering if he should speak up. The younger agent noticed his hesitation, so she met his gaze to ease the struggle.

"Something's up, Boss?" she asked, propping her elbow by the car window as she turned to him.

"Made it home okay last night?" the team leader inquired, looking back onto the road.

"Absolutely. Told you, it was just a few minutes walk," the brunette nonchalantly replied.

It was kind of sweet that he worried, especially since from a human perspective, she had way more to drink than what would have allowed her to just casually stroll down the street. Most would have crawled. Although this innocent question made her wonder… why did  _everyone_  around her have inclinations to continually worry about her? To the point where their checking on her bordered on meddling…  _Wait a minute…_

"No unwanted visitors then?" Pride probed on.  _Oh for the love of… so this is what this was about! Did he actually know something? Followed her?_ No. She surely would have noticed a human sneaking around the entrance of the alley, trying to eavesdrop. Klaus would have too.

"None," the girl shook her head with a small smile, trying to come off as genuine. Dwayne eyed her for a few moments before switching topics.

"How was that apartment you looked at yesterday, by the way?" he switched topics.

"Good. I rented it. I'll get the exact address to you when we get back so you can put it on my file," Bella said. Come to think of it, they never got around to discussing the matter with Klaus yesterday. He was surely going to flip.

"Bet that friend of yours is glad that they get their place back for themselves," he quipped with humor, trying to ease the tension his previous questions might have caused, carefully phrasing so as not to assume whether it was a male or female friend, trying to fish for information.

"Yeah," the agent lied again, with a half-hearted shrug, careful to not confirm one way or another.

Actually the opposite. That place could house a small army, so it wasn't like she was bunking on the couch, or forcing him to sleep on the sofa while she took over his bed in a tiny one bedroom apartment. And truthfully, he had wanted her as close as possible, so even if that were the case, he would still insist, in fact, haul her ass right into bed with him. By now their desires were oddly aligned. But maybe it was best if she had a place of her own, to get away from his nosy siblings if nothing else. Elijah was still peeved with her for the stunt she pulled when Marcel came to threaten them. Though he hadn't confronted her ever since. Maybe she and Klaus could both sneak off for some alone time, though certain security measure would have to be made if they were going to spend time at the apartment.

The rest of the journey to the scene was spent in silence. Bella hopped out and got their equipment from the trunk without a word after they parked. The base guards had already secured the crime scene, the familiar yellow tape greeting them. Bella flashed her badge to them then ducked under the tape to enter the small house.

"Swan, bag and tag. LaSalle, pictures. Percy, go question the neighbors and witnesses," Dwayne rattled off their orders then turned to the guard standing by the door to give him a report. "What can you tell me?"

"Staff Sergeant Brooks was absent from the 0700 muster, we were sent to find him. I found the body like this and called HQ to send for NCIS. No sign of the perpetrator," the guard rattled off formally.

As Bella took in the scene from the doorway, she was happy to find that it looked pretty straightforward. Thank God! Nothing supernaturally freaky, just the good ol' run of the mill murder. She put on her gloves and entered, LaSalle close behind her.

First thing's first, the body, number one evidence. Brooks was still in sweats and a T-shirt, lying there in the living room by the upturned couch, nowhere near ready to go to a muster. If Bella had to guess he was killed in the middle of the night.

After tagging and letting LaSalle take a photo, she looked around to find some ID of the victim, to make sure he was who they thought he was. Though evidently, this  _was_  the housing of Staff Sergeant Lyall Brooks, the guards might not know him personally and just assumed his identity based on the place where they found the body. This was a large base after all. The brunette found a badge pinned onto his jacket by the door. After comparing it with their victim, she deemed them to be a match. Of course, the lab would run his fingerprints just to be sure, but at the moment this was enough evidence of his identity.

Bella continued on with processing the scene, leaving the body alone for now since medical examiners usually hated it when the crime scene investigators messed with the body before they had the chance to take a look at it. In all honesty, the vampire could have worked a lot faster if she was doing the whole process alone. LaSalle was barely keeping up with her pace as she marked the points of interest and evidence in the room for him to take a photo of before she came back around to collect the objects or take swab samples where appropriate.

"You good there, Chris?" Bella asked after a few minutes when she noticed the male agent's face turning positively green.

"I think I'm going to hurl…" he moaned pitifully, clamping a gloved hand against his mouth.

"Just do it outside, we don't need you contaminating the scene," the brunette patted him on the shoulder sympathetically, taking the camera from him to finish up on her own. "I'll take it from here."

As he made a beeline for the door, a plump African American woman came in. Their coroner, judging from her attire and the equipment she had brought with. The woman gazed after Chris curiously when he rushed past her without so much as acknowledging her presence.

"Loretta!" Dwayne called out, greeting the woman.

"What's crawled up that boy's ass?" the coroner asked with a laugh, apparently not offended, just amused by his antics.

"Well, Dr. Wade, our new girl here, Bella, drank him under the table last night," the team leader chuckled, effectively introducing the vampire in the same go.

"You seem to be doing just fine," she eyed Bella appraisingly for a moment.

"I know how to handle my liquor, ma'am," the brunette offered her hand. "Bella Swan."

"Oh, please, call me Loretta. More of that ma'am nonsense and I might start feeling old," the medical examiner laughed, before turning to business. "So what do we have here?"

The question was more rhetorical than aimed at anyone in particular, and Loretta crouched down beside the body to begin her examinations. Bella took that as a cue to finish off the bag and tag. She noticed by smell alone that the blood present in the room originated from two people. Whoever got the Staff Sergeant was met with heavy resistance, there were signs of a serious struggle. Upturned furniture, glass shards everywhere from a knocked over vase. But unfortunately no murder weapon. She really wanted to check outside, particularly the trashcans in the neighborhood in case the murderer was sloppy enough to dispose of it right here in the vicinity.

"Talk to me," Dwayne prompted Loretta after a minute or two.

"Cause of death is a single stab wound to the stomach, perforating the common hepatic artery. Time of death based on liver temperature is six hours ago, so around 3 AM," the coroner stated her preliminary findings. "Murder weapon should be a serrated blade based on the entry wound, most likely a six-inch, more specifics after the autopsy. Also, the abrasions and contusions both on his hands and face suggest that he was putting up quite a bit of fight before going down."

With that information in mind, Bella looked over the crime scene again. No sign of forced entry or lock picking on the door, so the Staff Sergeant must have opened it himself. At 3 AM no less. He must have known the assailant. If it were a random stranger asking for directions or something he wouldn't have let the person in so far into the apartment, were the brunt of the struggle was, right next to the kitchen.

Around the body there was plenty of blood, pooling around him from the stab wound, and some splatter from the fist fight. Someone had a broken nose for sure. By the looks of it, not the victim. The brunette crouched down by a couple of blood droplets not fitting into the pattern, quickly tagging and snapping a picture before, swabbing it. Inconspicuously she took a whiff of the smell it had. Definitely not Brooks', the essence that permeated the room.

"What've you got there?" Pride turned his attention to Bella, just as she was screwing the swab sample into the tube.

"Blood that doesn't fit the pattern. Might be the killer's," she replied. "If I have to guess, our perpetrator got punched in the nose really hard, and this little droplet escaped before he or she realized they were bleeding."

"Did you specialize in blood splatter analysis somewhere along the way?" the team leader asked incredulously.

"Not officially, no, but I have a photographic memory, sort of picked it up along the way as we processed a bunch of crime scenes with different MOs," Bella shrugged. She didn't really have another choice if she wanted to have plausible explanations for the stuff that she perceived with her enhanced senses.

"Not grilling you, kid, don't worry. So how did you come to the conclusion that this particular blood droplet is not from our victim?" he asked, genuinely interested in her theory. The lab would confirm the validity of it anyway.

"Well, for one the Staff Sergeant doesn't have a broken nose, or a nosebleed that could explain a droplet landing this far from the rest around his body, in fact, his only bleeding wound is the stab wound itself. His clothing absorbed any splatter that would have resulted on entry or exit of the weapon. The marks on his pants indicate that the killer wiped the knife off on it after the victim collapsed, so it couldn't have dripped from that either," the brunette explained in one breath.

Life would have been so much easier if forensic vampirism was a thing. She could just point and say  _because that blood smells different, dammit!_

"She is probably right, Dwayne. The bruises on Brooks' knuckles are consistent with punching someone in the face really hard," Loretta looked up with an approving smirk as she stood up, motioning the crime scene techs to load up the body onto a stretcher and into the coroner's van. "Thorough analysis there Agent Swan, I'm sure Sebastian will corroborate it."

"Just Bella, please," the girl smiled tightly under the praise. Her eyes then wandered to the kitchen noticing a knife set in a wooden block. "Loretta, you said the murder weapon is probably a six-inch serrated knife, right?

"That's correct," the medical examiner replied.

"Look what's missing from here," Bella tagged it and snapped a picture quickly, before holding up the block, pointing to the empty slot. She then went around the kitchen just to double check that the knife wasn't in the sink or dishwasher or something. It wasn't.

Meanwhile, Pride examined the set to see what kind of knives were in there. All serrated, in different sizes. Though they couldn't be 100% sure without finding the knife they were pretty sure that was their murder weapon.

"Good eyes, Swan," Dwayne complimented proudly. "When you are done with the evidence catalog, take it over to the Jefferson Parish forensic scientist. Just make sure you get the keys from Percy and inform her of the change."

Apparently, he concluded that Swan was up to driving if her observation skills were this good even after a night of drinking.

"Sure thing, Boss," the brunette replied before following the African American woman out the door.

Bella found LaSalle still hunched by a tree over a few yards away from the edge of the crime scene tape. She could smell the stench of vomit even from this distance, and it almost made her own stomach turn. Which was weird because she had never been particularly squeamish. Well, if you didn't count that the smell of blood set her off when she was still human.

Sonja was just wrapping up talking to the next door neighbors when the brunette jogged up to her.

"Hey, could you give me the keys? I gotta pop by the lab at the coroner's office to drop off the evidence later," she rushed through the words, trying to block out the smell of puke from her consciousness.

"Good luck with that. You'll find that Sebastian is a bit… weird. Don't worry, he is great at his job… just thought to give you a heads up," Sonja winked with a laugh before handing over the keys.

"Thanks," Bella furrowed her brows at that. Seriously could he be more eccentric than Abby with her full on Goth fetish? "Take care of Chris, will you?" she added glancing to the other side where their fellow agent was starting to look like he wasn't going to acquaint his gut contents with the asphalt anymore.

"Don't worry, I'll give him my momma's secret cure it all," Percy laughed a bit sardonically.

"Do I want to know?" Bella asked with a chuckle, guessing the ingredients were not all that conventional.

"No, you don't, girl," she shook her head, way to too amused for that to mean anything good.

And on that note, the brunette returned to the crime scene to finish up taking photos and do another sweep to make sure she didn't miss anything.

* * *

Klaus – taking advantage of the fact that Bella was at work – made a phone call. One he had been putting off for a few days now, due to various excuses and promises, but with last night's events, he just wasn't going to be taking chances any longer. Edward Cullen must die. There just wasn't any way around it. He was reckless, delusional, and erratic in his quest to win Bella back that besides being highly annoying, not to mention unwelcome and grating against his nerves, left the supernatural world vulnerable.  _Bella doesn't even have to find out…_  he thought as he dialed.

But alas making contact with one of the Volturi over long distance was trickier business than one might think. Even if you knew that one particular phone number that only a few select around the world were given access to, and were one of the even fewer beings the Volturi – or more specifically Aro – feared, it still took a grueling fifty minutes until his minions got the millennia-old cold one on the phone for Klaus. They were more used to dealing with their "subjects" in person in Volterra. Good thing the Original wasn't one of their subjects.

"Niklaus, my friend, what do I owe this pleasure to?" the ancient cold one asked in a sickly sweet tone.  _Like anyone would fall for his pretenses._  Nobody was "friends" with the Volturi. They were a tyrannical force of pompous ass. The only reason they were still in power was that no one dared to challenge them, not because they were respected or loved by other cold ones.

"I have some information that might interest you," the werewolf hybrid hinted mysteriously.

"Ah, what might you have for me?" Aro allowed with faked interest. He was confident enough in his information network to think that there wouldn't be anything actually new in what this relative newcomer in the supernatural world had to say.

Their "professional" relations were tentative at best. They tolerated each other's existence because Aro knew that most of their tricks didn't work on the Originals (some not even on vampires in general), and they could never hope to match their physical attributes, while Klaus saw nothing to be gained by attacking this other race of vampires. That is until cold ones posed no specific threat to him, he was content with letting them live.

"I am sure, you have already heard, but one of your kind has stirred up some unwelcome attention on this side of the Atlantic," Klaus hinted with a smirk, awaiting Aro's reaction to his taunting.

"Would you be more specific, my friend? There have been all sorts of whispers carried over by the wind. Which one are you referring to?" the cold one royalty quipped back with disinterest, trying to dodge the fact that he had absolutely no clue what the werewolf hybrid might be talking about.

If someone were stirring the pot publicly, killing too many humans in an area in conspicuous ways, he would have known by now of course.

"All right, let me spell it out for you. Edward Cullen, who I'm sure you at least know of given your little obsession with collecting gifted cold ones, has drawn the attention of a federal agency to himself. They are investigating his background and have already stumbled into an array of troubling facts. Only a matter of time until the secrecy of the supernatural world is at stake as they put the pieces together," the Mikaelson explained through gritted teeth.

He knew that Aro was full of shit, and his evasive, pretentious manner of speaking was capable of riling him up in a fraction of a second. No wonder Klaus rarely had dealings with them.

"Ah, one of Carlisle's," Aro hummed, his eyes already glinting with a greedy satisfaction that finally he had a just reason to snatch the other mind reader away from his coven and into his own. He had wanted to do so for decades. But they had a certain image to uphold to avoid unrest and revolt among the cold ones. "Yes. Yes, we will deal with him."

"Excuse me, if I wasn't clear. Edward Cullen needs to die," the Original spat, the fact that "dealing with" in no way ensured the prat's demise did not evade his attention.

"You are in no position to make demands of us, Niklaus. We will find him and deal with him in a satisfactory manner that will ensure the continued concealment of the truth about vampires," the head of the Volturi replied calmly not at all frazzled by the younger creature's outburst.

"I do not care how much you want him in your pathetic little circle of brainwashed fanatics or what your petty little politics dictate," he snarled menacingly. "One of your good for nothing sparkling abominations is wreaking havoc in my city. I am merely giving you a chance to kill him yourself out of courtesy since he belongs under your domain. He will die either way, but if I have to do it, I won't stop before your whole race is wiped off the face of the earth. Are we clear?"

"Our tracker, along with our best fighters will be on the move within the hour. I assure you that his remains will be set ablaze within 72 hours," Aro decided reluctantly. Demetri, along with Jane, Alec, Felix, and Santiago, the usual should be enough the deal with the Cullen boy if he was alone, which was likely based on this account.

"That's more like it, Aro. Good doing business with you," Klaus smirked triumphantly. "Ah, and don't forget to send me evidence once it is actually done."

The Volturi hung up without further comment, but the Original knew that events have been set to motion. The foreseeable demise of his adversaries always filled him with a sense of glee, something he was strongly feeling now.

"Isabella will be displeased when she finds out about this, Niklaus," Elijah remarked, leaning against the doorway casually. He happened to overhear the last part of the conversation as he walked past the art room, where his younger brother liked to dwell most of the time.

"She had already anticipated the possible involvement of Volturi. I just have to make sure she wouldn't learn the identity of the informant," the werewolf hybrid shot a meaningful look at the other Original in the suit.

"Don't look at me, I won't say a word," he held his hand up in retreat, only hoping that none of the other Mikaelsons bothered to pay attention to this specific phone call, or that none of them had reason to make Klaus's life more miserable by revealing the truth to his newfound mate. "I'm just not sure if lies are the best foundation to build your budding romance on."

"If she asks no questions, she'll hear no lies," Nik shrugged as he pocketed his phone and strutted out of the room.

"Lie of omission then. Secrets if you prefer. Same difference," Elijah turned after him with a forlorn expression. He might not have agreed with the girl's latest decisions, but he was still rooting for their relationship. He could see that she was right for Niklaus, the same way Cami had been. Bringing out his humanity.

"You should know by now, brother. Everyone's got secrets," Klaus smirked, the diabolical strategist in him who liked pulling strings behind the scenes coming to surface.

Ignorance is bliss after all.

* * *

Somewhere in the Canadian wilderness, there was a small wooden hut, hidden from human civilization, not even a lone hiking trail within a hundred miles of it. Inside a tiny-framed woman with a pixie cut, dark hair sticking out in all directions, suddenly went into a trance, her whole body going rigid as she concentrated onto the flashing images before her eyes.

"What is it, Alice?" Jasper asked frantically, recognizing the tell-tale signs of a vision.

They were alone here in the middle of nowhere. Their family decided that it was best if they split up into pairs in case the feds decided to try and track them down. They also agreed on not contacting each other for a while, decreasing the chances of giving away the others in case the agents got whiff of one of their trails.

Although if things came to the worst, they should have been together, to have even a slither of fighting chance.

"Edward… the Volturi… they decided to hunt him," her golden amber eyes snapped open, full of trepidation.

Things just came to the worst. Somehow the Volturi got wind of the fact that the truth regarding the existence of vampires might be in danger of coming to light.

"When? Why?" the blond cold one inquired with a puzzled expression. Even if the Volturi knew of his recent infringements, wouldn't they want to try and recruit Edward first as a form of atonement? Aro had shown tremendous interest in him and his abilities in the past.

"I didn't see what triggered Aro's decision. But the guard is moving out within the hour," Alice informed him. "With the intent to kill."

"We need to get to Edward. Screw NCIS and them possibly finding us," the former Confederate major declared. They could always just disappear again, not resurfacing in the human world for decades, but Edward didn't stand a chance alone against the Volturi guard.

"Then we might all die," she despaired, closing her eyes again to try and search for all the possible futures and outcomes this confrontation might have. "Give me a minute. I need to  _see_."

* * *

Eccentricity didn't even begin to cover the enigma that was Sebastian Lund. He was the epitome of a geeky nerd. Tall, gangly, wearing hipster glasses. Talks too fast, nervous as hell, especially around women. Full of conspiracy theories and wild ideas about the world. That's the impression Bella got from just spending one second in the room with him when she finally got over to the lab at lunchtime. And then he started speaking.

"Hi," Sebastian waved to her like a kid with ADHD out of Ritalin, failing miserably at staying cool. "Just put those down on the counter, I'll get started on them in a second."

"Okay," she placed the cooling bag with all the samples inside on the pale green ledge the guy pointed to, then turned around to introduce herself and offer a hand to shake. "I'm Bella, by the way."

"Yeah, I know. Loretta said we have a new girl," he replied without taking the hand, just stared at it for a moment. "Sorry, I'm not going to shake that. I hate germs, and you look a bit too pale to be healthy."

_Seriously? You are a germophobe working in a morgue? True that you are separated from everything nasty by latex gloves… but still…_

"I'm part albino, don't sweat it," Bella tried to lighten the mood. Should have thought better of it. This joke had already failed in high school, why would it be funny now.

"You know, that's just impossible. You show none of the physical characteristics associated with albinism," the forensic scientist stated with a deadpan face.

Bella just sighed.  _This is going well…_

"Never mind," she mumbled and stood there awkwardly for a few moments before deciding it was best to just exit the situation. "I'm just gonna go."

In the hallways, she ran into Dr. Wade, who was just exiting the autopsy room.

"Hey, Loretta," Bella called out when she noticed the woman. "Done already?"

"Yes. Are you here to collect the report? That's not typed up yet," Loretta looked at her in confusion. She had just spoken with Dwayne over the phone to give him the main points of her findings for the investigation.

"No, I was dropping off the evidence with Sebastian," the brunette said, pointing toward the lab where she had just come out from.

"Ah, so you two have met," the African American woman smiled sympathetically. Sebastian could be difficult she knew that.

"Yeah, I'm not sure if we were off to a great start…" the agent trailed off unsurely.

She wasn't the type to be buddy-buddy with everyone at the office, but always strived to have a decent working relationship with those who she had the most contact with. It just made things easier, people who at least didn't hate her guts questioned her "quirky" behavior less. She could get away with stuff that resulted from her superior senses without getting challenged too much if she presented her observations right. If people didn't like her, everything she did got scrutinized more, so she tried to avoid these situations.

"Don't worry, he is like that with everyone at first," the M.E. waved off her concerns.

"Sonja tried to warn me. I guess I just wasn't expecting that anyone could trump Abby in the eccentric department, and we got on very well back in D.C.," Bella explained, a pang of guilt marring into her heart.

She hadn't spoken with Abby ever since she compelled her to forget her way too spot on findings regarding Klaus's DNA in James Sheridan's neck wound. The Goth girl had gone all the way to Mystic Falls on her birthday just to warn her, because she thought Bella could be in danger too. Her birthday had been disastrous on so many levels. Though this wouldn't be the first one.

"You gotta realize Ms. Sciuto has a very open personality," Loretta offered sympathetically. Being the new girl wasn't easy.

"You got that one right. Anyway, should I wait for the report, or come back for it after lunch or something? I'm not sure what the system between you and Pride is yet," the brunette quickly changed subjects.

"I was just on the phone with him, but if you could get the full written report to him, that would be great. I should have it ready in an hour," the coroner informed her as she glanced at the clock.

"Lunch it is then. I'm starving," Bella declared, sort of like an exaggerated joke, but as soon as it left her mouth, she realized that it was actually true. She could kill for a burger or a steak just about now. Practically craving them. She had never felt this hungry in her life, and she had a hearty breakfast in the morning.

_What the hell is going on?_


	26. Normalcy in the oddity

By the time Bella got back to the NCIS office with the coroner's report in hand, she was exhausted. She hadn't felt this way ever since turning. Every motion took an effort like she had just run a marathon. Okay, that might be a bit of an over exaggeration, but you get the point.

Chris was by his desk, holding his head in his palms, trying to block the brightness of the sunlight out, while Sonja was busy in the back where the kitchen of the building was located.

Before checking out what the other girl was up to, the brunette trotted up the stairs to Pride's office to hand the report over to him. All of this was of course in their digital database of the case too, scanned and uploaded by Loretta earlier, but Dwayne preferred the physical thing instead of staring at a screen all day long. Since the files were stored for data security reasons in paper format too (just in case a daring, talented hacker or the end of the world or something decided to erase all their hard drives), and had to be filed away anyway, this didn't really cause extra work. They just had to make sure to get the original reports as soon as they were ready rather than waiting for them to trickle down the system.

"Thanks," Pride mumbled absentmindedly, already scanning through the main points. "Did Loretta mention anything that stood out during the autopsy?"

"Yeah, the murder weapon might not be the kitchen knife after all, the wound looks too wide compared to the ones we do have from the set, but it's possible that the missing knife is a wider model too," she relayed the message. That was a bummer too, but this was what forensic work looked like. You came up with theories, had hunches, then they got proven true or false by the evidence. Though she hadn't given up hope yet, just have to find that damn knife. "And the vic's ID is definitely Staff Sgt. Lyall Brooks, the fingerprints confirmed it."

"I see. Check in with Percy regarding the witness reports, maybe that will get us somewhere," he gave her the next task to focus then turned back to the autopsy report.

"Techs haven't found the knife yet right?" the agent double checked.

"No, not yet," Dwayne confirmed, after which Bella left, leaving him to reading over the report.

She found Sonja still in the kitchen, seemingly concocting something. The smells emerging from the counter – almost definitely only she could be detected by her keen nose – caught her attention though. Bella ventured closer, peering over Percy's shoulder to find that she was crushing and mixing a bunch of herbs. Most of which couldn't even be bought off the street according to Bella's extensive research. Serious witchcrafty stuff.

"Whatcha makin'?" the vampire asked innocently. Though why she bothered to look unassuming, she didn't know. If Sonja was really a witch, or more specifically if she had tapped her powers, then she would already know what Bella was.

"Mom's secret hangover cure that I mentioned earlier," Percy replied without a hitch. Positively not acting like someone who got caught red-handed doing witchcraft.

"Looks disgusting," Bella commented. It really did. "How did she come up with this?"

"I think my grandma taught her," the black girl shrugged, thinking nothing of it. Family "recipes." Sure.

Bella was reasonably sure Sonja had no idea of the supernatural. None of her vital signs indicated that she was lying. Her maternal side of the family most definitely did though. Let's just hope she would never have to meet them.

"Well, if it works… I just pity LaSalle already," the brunette grinned. As far she could tell there was nothing dangerous among the ingredients, they were just tough to come by since most were already extinct species of plants, usually only grown in secret in the greenhouses of specific coven members who then traded their goods within their community.

"Yeah, it's bitter as hell. I had the 'pleasure' to taste the stuff in my teenage years. Not sure if Mom had just left me to suffer through the day with my headache and everything would have been better or worse. LaSalle here though has to work to do, so he'll have to suck it up," Sonja ranted on with an expression somewhere between fondness and good-humored teasing, anticipating his face when he finally downs the magical cure. Literal magic cure, though neither of them knew that.

The way Sonja talked about Chris also told the other agent that there might be something going on between the two, unsaid feelings if nothing else.

"That he does… Hey, can I look through your witness notes without you? Pride wanted us to comb through them together, but I'd like to get to it," the newer agent inquired on her way out, itching to do something, or else she might fall asleep. Might as well be something productive.

"Sure," the black girl agreed with a little laugh at her eagerness.

The job in NOLA was definitely more laid back than in D.C. Not that back there the boys didn't goof off whenever they could, but even their office space here had a much more relaxed vibe than HQ at the Navy Yard. It felt like they were working out of someone's back garage or something, and there was no SecNav, NCIS Director or agents with sticks up their asses to breathe down their necks.

By 2 PM Bella was hungry again, and she had the nagging feeling that she would have to go hunting again soon too. Tomorrow at the latest. She had combed through everything and the only thing standing out to her was the fact that some neighbors had seen a "young lady" come and go from the house for the past couple of weeks. Girlfriend maybe. Though none could give a name for her. Lyall was definitely not the chatty neighbor. All accounts pointed to the fact he kept mostly to himself. But they did have a description: petite, blonde, aged mid to late 20s. A dime a dozen, but still it was more than nothing. And they knew that she had visited the victim just the day before his death in the afternoon.

"Do we have the base gate security camera footage?" Bella inquired out of the blue. If the mystery mistress wasn't from the base, then she had to go through gate security to visit Brooks.

"Huh? Yeah, sure, just ask Plame to pull them for you," Chris waved her off, already resting his head back, too out of it to actually realize that maybe he ought to call the guy since Swan definitely didn't have a way of contacting him.

No to mention that Bella didn't even have the slightest idea who Plame was, but that wasn't going to stop her from getting what she wanted.

"Hey, do you know who Plame is? Chris mentioned the guy in regards to getting the security footage from the base," Bella wondered into the kitchen again to ask the other girl.

"He is our computer expert, I'll call him in a sec," Percy replied helpfully, just about finishing up with her concoction, fishing her cell phone out of her pocket.

A few minutes later Sonja returned to the room to give Chris give his "potion." The word would have made Bella choke on her own spit in surprise if she hadn't already established earlier that Sonja had no idea what she was talking about. How she stayed utterly clueless in a witchy household Bella couldn't even begin to guess at. Maybe when her career choice became evident, they just didn't initiate her. Though that should have happened in the early teens.

As promised the drink of herbs mixed into tomato juice was "bitter as fuck" as their patient had put it, but within five minutes of drinking it LaSalle felt like a whole new man. A black guy in a wheel chair rolled in just then, and as recognition flashed on both of her fellow agents' face, she dared to guess that he was the famous Plame.

"Patton Plame, meet Agent Swan, she just got transferred here," Chris introduced her swiftly, and she bent down to shake his hand, vaguely wondering whether accident or illness caused his disability. The thought that vampirism could easily cure either passed through her mind briefly too, though she didn't entertain the idea seriously. She could never do this to another person.

"Just Bella," the brunette smiled, already getting tired of that phrase. She hated being the new girl, but hopefully, this was the last of the awkward first impressions.

"Triple P will suffice for me too," he smirked at her cockily, which of course caused LaSalle and Percy to roll their eyes at the nickname, then wheeled himself to a computer promptly. "So what do we need, security footage?"

"Yes, in and outgoing traffic from all Belle Chasse gates between 3 and 6 PM yesterday. We are looking for a blond woman, mid-late 20s." Thank god for nosy neighbors, watching your every move. Murder investigation would be a bitch without you.

"On it," the computer guy got onto the task immediately, pulling up the feeds in four separate windows, flash-forwarding them to only stop at when there was a car approaching, pausing it swiftly to see if the driver or any of the passengers met the description then moved on.

"Stop it right there," Bella exclaimed suddenly after couple minutes of fruitless screen watching, pointing to the top right corner window on the screen.

"What? That wasn't a blonde," Patton frowned but backed up the footage anyway.

"No, but her hair is completely covered by a baseball cap," the brunette explained, which soon became evident to others who possessed lesser eyesight too. Was that deliberate on her part? Did she have something to do with Lyall's murder? "Sonja, could you call the base guards, to see who was leaving the base through… Gate C, at 4:42 PM yesterday?"

The time was a little early compared to the witness' estimate of when the girl left, but still, they had to check. Percy got on the phone instantly.

"Keep going with the footage till we know for certain," Chris prompted Plame on, but soon they had reached the end of their estimated time frame and no one else matched.

"Kelly Lambert," Sonja came back with a name and Patton searched for her in the citizen database with the other information they had on her from the gate entry logs.

Her driver's license appeared on the screen, and behold, she was a 27-year-old, blond girl. Bingo.

"Last known address?" Bella inquired then scribbled it down on a note and handed it to Sonja. "Update Pride, okay?"

"Don't you want to tell him? You were the one who came up with the idea how to identify our witness," the black girl frowned. In no way did she want to steal the credit.

The vampire smiled at her kindly for the gesture, but she wasn't looking for brownie points with her new boss. Promotions and other perks were the last things on her mind.

"No, go ahead, I want to check something else first. Take LaSalle with you. Maybe you two could go question Kelly together, hm?" Swan winked at the other girl, at which Chris promptly blushed.

"Come on, Percy," he snatched the note from Sonja and made haste towards Dwayne's office.

Plame regarded the new addition to their team with a scrutinizing gaze for a few seconds.

"Crafty one, aren't you? No one had them so flustered before," he remarked, grinning like a fool. Her fellow agents had a shipper for sure.

"And I wasn't even trying," Bella laughed out. Not that she wanted to go matchmaking.

"So what else are we looking at?" Plame got back to business, glancing at her expectantly.

"Outgoing traffic from 2:45 AM this morning onward. Time of death was around 3 AM but let's leave a margin of error, and we are looking for anyone with a bloody nose, busted lip, or a black eye or something," Bella listed her parameters.

"That's very specific," Patton commented with amusement.

"I have a theory," she shrugged nonchalantly, eyes glued to the screen.

Sonja and Chris came barreling down the stairs a minute later, getting the car keys to head out.

"Have fun, kids!" Bella called after them good-humoredly. Funny thing was that even if you counted her vampire years, she was still the youngest on the team. By a far margin. And physically she would stay nineteen forever. If they had known that technically a teenager was their star agent… "Don't forget to get back before curfew!"

"Very funny, Swan!" Chris shot back sarcastically, but the red tinge of blush that was still somewhat visible to her vampire eyes flared up just a tiny bit, along with his heart rate, matched by Sonja's.

The black girl mouthed at her " _seriously?"_ , but Bella was already turning her attention back at the security footage. Unfortunately an hour later, and reaching present time with all videos, there was still nothing.

"Theory debunked?" the guy in the wheelchair tentatively asked.

"Or the perp never left the base. Maybe another Marine," the agent sighed as she thought through what the results could mean, rubbing her temples. She was starting to get a headache, and all she wanted was to curl up under a blanket and sleep the rest of the day away.

"Hey, you alright?" Patton glanced at her with worry.

"Yeah. Could you quickly check the base medical records if anyone came in with a broken nose today?" Bella quickly added. That was a slim chance. The guy had to be really stupid to get medical help, but a broken nose might have been the only thing bringing him there if it was severe enough.

"Give me a sec," Plame fired away on the keyboard. "Nope."

"Oh, well. Had to try. Anyway, thanks for the help," she gave him a small smile. "Gonna update Pride."

"Sure, thing. I'm heading out, but call if you guys need anything else," he waved, starting to head out.

"Do you need a ride or something?" the brunette offered, not knowing how Patton got around.

"Nope. Got my Triple P mobile," the black guy smirked again, waving as he rolled out.

Bella shook her head, trying not to laugh, then headed upstairs.

"Boss?" she peeked into his office after a knock.

"Anything new?" Dwayne glanced up from his papers.

"Just had Patton check for anyone with facial injuries leaving the base after the time of death, but nothing. Thinking maybe the murderer is still on base, possibly a Marine?" the agent reported as she stepped in further.

"The extent of the defensive wounds would suggest the perp gave a lot of trouble to Brooks. Definitely well built, so that would fit," Pride agreed with her.

"There is nothing else to do until the lab results or Sonja and LaSalle come back from the mystery girl, could I maybe head out? I still have to organize my move to the apartment," Bella lied, but she desperately needed to get out. The room started closing in on her, and all she could concentrate on was the steady pulse under her boss's neckline. The urge was getting as strong as if she hadn't been hunting for weeks. Fuck tomorrow, she had to go tonight.

"Sure thing. Oh, you still owe me the address," he remembered suddenly.

Swan hastily jotted it down on a scrap of paper, then bolted out with a haphazard  _see you tomorrow_.

By now it was 4 PM, and Bella relished the open air, the tunnel vision lifting from her senses, but she was still hyper-aware of the humans milling around. Hunting. She had to go hunting. But first thing's first, she had to go talk to Klaus.

* * *

As she reached the compound with a swift five-minute walk, Bella had herself somewhat under control, but now the hunger that had been bothering her a few hours earlier came back with a vengeance. The brunette made her way straight to the kitchen and peeked into the fridge to see if there was something that tickled her fancy.

Eggs. Lots of them. She took the whole container out and proceeded to make a huge batch of scrambled eggs. It was almost like a craving.

"Got a big appetite in more ways than one, Sis," someone remarked teasingly from the entrance.

Bella turned around, startled out of her mind. A guy with dark brown hair, loosely resembling Elijah stood there with an amused smirk on his face.

"I'm so sorry, where are my manners? Kol Mikaelson," he introduced himself mockingly with an exaggerated bow. "Though I guess you didn't have yours on yourself either when you were all over my brother as he rushed you to his bedroom."

 _Fuck_ , Bella thought internally while she tried to keep a cool outer front. Honestly last night she wasn't concentrating on anything besides Klaus's lips on hers as they made their way into the compound. It didn't even register with her that some of the other residents might have seen them.

"Uhm, Bella. Bella Swan," the girl muttered, turning self-consciously back to the stove to avoid burning her food.

"Yeah, I know," the Original commented off-handedly, leaning against the wall with arms crossed. "Nik won't shut up about you."

"Sorry. I guess?" Bella glanced to her side with an apologetic frown, though some sass did manage to seep into her tone. Seemed like each first start with every member of this family had to be awkward and stand-offish. She didn't really want to prove herself to anyone again honestly.

Kol just laughed heartily.

"Don't worry. You're fine," he winked at her, grabbing an apple from the basket on the table. "Guess I better get your Don Juan then."

With that Kol walked out, biting down on the piece of fruit mischievously. Bella felt like she was pranked, or put to some test, one that she had seemingly passed, but again there was the insinuation from yet another relative that Klaus couldn't possibly want anything permanent from her, and that frustrated her out of her mind. In her irritation, she even bent the fork that she was holding into a curvy abomination of itself.

Bella took a calming breath and sat down at the huge dining table to eat after carefully reshaping the utensil into its original form.

"You came home early, love," Klaus beamed at her as he rushed into the kitchen, kissing her on her hairline to allow her to continue eating without interruption.

"I had a good excuse. I have a faux apartment to move into," the brunette got right into the middle of it, not really seeing a point in trying to dance around the issue.

"You want to move out?" the Original inquired quietly, but that tone could have held anything from hurt to menacing threat.

Of course, he remembered their initial deal, not living together (not even being seen together in public, though that was a moot point now), and their current set up only being a temporary arrangement, until she found an apartment in the city, but honestly he couldn't help but feel disappointed. In the last few days, he thought things had started to change between them. Going somewhere. Last night seemed like proof to that.

"Not particularly… Unless you want me to, of course," Bella replied honestly, finding his face utterly unreadable at the moment. "But I have to give a semi-permanent address for my work file, and that can't be this one."

"You already found someplace then?" Klaus asked, a bit relieved, but still somewhat wary of the situation.

"Yesterday, yes," the agent confirmed, not actually planning on getting into detail as to how she found the place and the arrangements she managed to "negotiate." Not that she worried the werewolf hybrid would disapprove of her blatantly exploiting her vampire powers, but she didn't want to reveal the reason behind that decision. "I wanted to mention it earlier, but then… you know… we got kind of  _distracted_."

The reminder of last night's activities got Niklaus grinning like the Cheshire cat, raw hunger and lust for her evident all over his face. Guess sequels were coming. No, not in a theater near you…

"So what does 'moving in' entail in your understanding?" he asked in sly amusement, hiding his smirk behind his fingers.

"Just taking a couple of stuff over so that if someone wants to come by I can at least pretend to live there. But I wasn't planning on spending much time there," Bella explained, quickly shoving another mouthful of food into her mouth before Klaus could ask something else from her.

"Did you not have lunch?" the Original asked as he watched her devour the plate of food, made from like a dozen eggs.

"I did," she nodded, mouth still full, her reply sounding so innocent, especially with her eyes going wide as she swallowed quickly. "But I'm just so hungry. Have been all day actually. I have to go hunting too."

"Do you reckon you will have space left in your belly for that?" Klaus couldn't help but chuckle at her teasingly, but there was just a hint of concern on his face. She had gone hunting just two days ago, and he remembered well that she usually went much longer than this before thirst became a problem. Under normal circumstances that is. Maybe the confrontation with Lucien was still taking its toll on her.

Bella just threw him a dirty glance, not deigning that question with an answer, and finished off her food finally. She took her plate to the sink, rinsed it off then placed everything the dishwasher.

"Does the lady wish company for any of her errands?" the werewolf hybrid asked coyly if she minded him tagging along.

The agent's face warmed with a smile at the suggestion and took his hand in hers, gently curling her fingers intertwined with his.

"Who knows, maybe I need saving from a big bad elk…" the brunette nudged him lightly.

"Then better have the big bad wolf along your side," he winked at her, blatantly flirting, then leaned into her neck, ghosting kisses all the way from her ear to her collarbone.

"Touché. That was a low hanging fruit," Bella murmured breathily, acutely aware of his free hand roaming higher and higher on her side and back. Her mind was already spinning with hot sex, and she had to actively tear herself away. "Let's get everything done first, then we will have plenty of time for this later."

"I'll hold you to that promise, love," the Original whispered into her ear before releasing her from his hold.

"I didn't expect anything less," the agent laughed, tugging him along towards the entrance of the compound.

Once out in the daylight again, they slunk away into some back alley to get out of public sight and ran at full speed whenever they could. Outside the city, they found a forest with some game pretty quickly. Bella wasn't planning on making this an extended hunting trip for carnivores. Perhaps on the weekend.

Like last time Klaus just watched, not intending to actually partake in her "vegetarian" diet, but Bella couldn't help but notice that his eyes never wandered from her for more than a couple seconds.

Honestly, he might have had a point regarding her stomach already being full with human sustenance, because she became sated much sooner than she had expected. The sensation wasn't particularly comfortable, but she wasn't about to whine about a belly ache. Klaus still noticed that something was up.

"Are you all right, love?" he asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she quickly replied, trying to sound reassuring. "Uhm. How do you feel about a trip to a convenience store?"

"I don't believe I have ever been to one," the werewolf hybrid quipped back cheekily.

"Never?" Bella stared, dumbfounded.

"Well, they have been invented well after my time," Klaus elaborated, humor seeping into his voice, winking at her like he was letting her in on some private joke. "And I always had minions to send for those scarce items I might actually need from such a place."

"Huh. I guess you have a point. Better late than never then," the brunette shrugged, her face lighting up with purpose as she grabbed his hand again.

* * *

They say go big or go home. Well, that was actually what Bella did. Instead of finding some corner shop run as a family business or something, she dragged Klaus all the way to the Walmart Super Center at the edge of the Garden District. Might not have been the wisest idea to go into such a crowded place, given her earlier bloodlust, but she was confident in her self-control after the hunt.

Klaus definitely looked like fish out of water, and Bella had to stifle of a laugh, desperate not to offend him. Domesticity was not a good look on the Original that was for sure, but pushing a shopping cart around on his girlfriend's insistence couldn't be called anything else. He was a fairly good sport about it too, following Bella around as she strolled from isle to isle, haphazardly throwing things like toothbrushes, shampoos, and stuff into the cart.

He wouldn't have said anything, even when she placed in a few clothing items in, but then they got to the foods.

"I thought you weren't going to spend time at the apartment," the Original frowned like a child who was denied candy.

"I'm only buying a few non-perishables. Like I said I have to sell it to anyone coming over that I live there. I could always say that I don't really cook, and order take-out for main meals, but I have to have some drinks and snacks or something to make it believable," Bella explained, flinging a few more things in.

The werewolf hybrid stayed quiet for a few minutes, just watching her.

"Why do you bother with trying to fit in at all?" he asked finally, honestly not understanding her reasoning.

"I don't know. I guess habit. I'm still too new to being… you know," the girl shrugged, hyperaware of avoiding the word vampire.

"Don't worry. I am not judging," Nik gave her a tight smile, rubbing her arm reassuringly before tucking her under his arm. And reassured she was.

They were soon done, and Klaus even insisted on paying despite all of Bella's very loud and obnoxious protests. They got some dirty glances, but all in all, they looked like any other squabbling couple. There was an odd normalcy to the whole proceeding.

Despite her bravado, it was nice to be out in the open air again as they made their way back to the compound, much, much easier to ignore the pulse of heartbeats around her.

"Do you have everything?" Klaus inquired, two large shopping bags still in hand as Bella sorted through the stuff in her duffel bags if there was anything in there that she didn't really need and could be stowed away at the apartment.

"Yeah, let's go," she straightened up, holding just a few items that she stuffed into one of the bags, then swung her satchel over her shoulder, making sure she had the keys to the new place too.

Just for appearances sake, they took her truck, Bella driving despite Klaus's protests. In turn, she let him carry her bags upstairs without a fuss. Compromise, the foundation of a relationship, right?

The building itself gave suspicions to the Original, but the state of the apartment rose that one notch further. Federal agents didn't make much money, did they? How did Bella afford the place?

Okay, it wasn't luxurious, super high-end or particularly huge as far as apartments went, but was right on the edge of the French Quarter, and obviously pretty new, or recently renovated – either way a rarity in this part of town – furnished with beautiful, modern furniture, fully stocked with all the appliances she could possibly need. He had a pretty good understanding of the real estate market in the city to know that apartments like this went for around $1,500 if not more.

He took a quick tour to look around while Bella busied herself with putting everything away in the kitchen and bathroom, then cutting off the tags from the cheap lingerie, shirts, and pants to stow away into the dresser.

"Sorry that took so long," Bella sighed with her hands on her hips when she was done, taking one last glance around. She didn't own many trinkets or stuff that could visibly make the place homey anyway, never did, so if anyone asked, she just didn't have enough time yet to make the apartment her home. Not that she planned to.

"Not a problem," the Original smiled at her, then decided not to bring up the issue of her finances. He hoped very much that if she was ever in trouble, she would ask for his help, but being a vampire and all she might have made "special arrangements" to be able to afford the place. "Let's go home."

Bella beamed up at him, giving him a quick peck on the mouth, before letting him lead her out. As she was locking up, another thing occurred to Klaus.

"Do you mind if I send Freya over sometime to ward the apartment? Just in case. And maybe compelling the owner wouldn't hurt either," he suggested. Even if she wasn't going to be here a lot, especially overnight, she would be still vulnerable those few times.

"I already did. If you noticed, you had no problem coming over the threshold," the agent chuckled, especially at his befuddled expression as he recalled their arrival. She wasn't sure if it would work but had the lady who owned the place say the words that "Klaus Mikaelson is welcome in the apartment." Turns out the vampire in question doesn't need to be present for the invitation to work. "As far as wards go, that isn't such a terrible idea. Here," she said, dangling the keys in front of him.

First, he almost wanted to say that as a powerful witch Freya surely could let herself in anytime she wanted, but took the keys anyway. It was a sign of trust. And he would take that in any shape or form he could get it from her.


	27. Putting the puzzle pieces together

Back at the Abattoir, they ran into Kol, first thing in the atrium, as if he had been waiting for them to get back, and Bella was grateful that this time they were keeping their hands to themselves. You can only look like a horny teenager in front of your boyfriend's immortal family so many times.

"Bella, I don't think you have met my younger brother, Kol, yet," Klaus began introducing them to each other.

"Oh, we've met plenty," the cheeky Mikaelson quipped, his mouth raising up at the corner into a half-smirk.

"Yes, we ran into each other in the kitchen earlier when I was making the eggs," Bella supplied eagerly, trying not to blush under the fact that wasn't the first time he saw  _her_ , and most definitely not the one he was referring to.

"Marvelous then. I hope you will all get along," the werewolf hybrid enthused, wanting nothing more than for his family to be together. And hopefully not plotting against each other. Unfortunately, that was always a possibility with them, so there was that thinly veiled edge to his voice that suggested: " _or else_."

"Sure, brother," Kol nodded, his eye glued to Bella, then he took his leave. She didn't say anything, but for some reason the guy creeped her out a bit, though she couldn't exactly put her finger on what felt off.

"I was wondering…" Niklaus began, averting his gaze almost shyly as he tried to broach the subject on his mind.

"About what?" the agent glanced up, sensing his hesitancy, hugging him around the waist for comfort. He quickly returned the gesture, pulling her closer to himself.

"Since you wouldn't be moving out, perhaps you wanted to make yourself more comfortable here? Like packing out of your bags. Into closets," the Original came out with it finally. Earlier when Bella was rummaging through her stuff, he couldn't help but notice that she was still living out of her suitcases.

"Yeah, I think that would be logical," she allowed, smiling to herself. She secretly loved the fact that she could make Klaus, the Original werewolf hybrid, feared by many, a bit weak at the knees, fumbling his words timidly, actually concerned about what her reaction might be to his suggestion.

"I was thinking along the lines of also maybe moving a few doors down the hall. Sharing a bedroom with me to be exact," he elaborated, a lot more confidently, smirking at her playfully.

"I guess that could be arranged too," Bella chuckled, it turning into full-on giggling when Klaus eagerly began leading her to her room in that instant so that they could finalize her living arrangements. Almost as if he was worried that she would change her mind if they didn't do it right then and there.

Gathering her stuff was a quick affair, mostly involving shoving her bathroom supplies into her vanity bag, so she banished Klaus to wait patiently on her bed, waving off his offer to help. Despite his apparent enthusiasm regarding officially moving in together, doubt seeped into Bella's mind as she flitted around the room.

"You really do want this, don't you?" the agent asked, her hands pausing as she was about to close the zipper on her bag that was sitting on her bed right beside Klaus, not daring to look at him in case he rejected her.

"Of course, I do! Why do you ask?" he looked at her perplexedly, brows furrowing.

"Nothing. Never mind," Bella shook her head. This was silly, she shouldn't let them get to her so much…

"Bella…" the Original warned, not too patient with people keeping things from him when there was obviously something going on.

"I just…" the girl trailed off with a sigh. Might as well get this over with. "Your family seems to think this is a temporary arrangement. And then there is the fact that we have barely known each other for a week..."

"What did they say that made you feel so insecure about your place by my side?" Klaus inquired menacingly. He had repeated time and time again that he considered her to be his queen, not something he said lightly.

"Look, I'm not even sure if they still feel that way. I just couldn't help but notice that their initial reactions to me were always like I was some passing fad on your part," she backtracked because honestly, no one had given her shit about this for a few days now. Bekah had even assured her of her change of heart since then. There was just this fresh reminder…

"Kol… I'm going to rip him apart," the werewolf was practically ready to pounce as he caught the meaning behind her unsaid words, and Bella had to wonder if this knee-jerk reaction to always assume the worst of his family was healthy.

He seemingly took her word at face value, which was endearing, this level of trust he placed in her, but maybe a tad dangerous if it were anyone else but her. Perhaps they had let him down one too many times, whereas she still had a clean slate.

"No! For the love of… don't, please don't. I don't want you guys fighting. I was just wondering if there was a reason why they might be thinking this won't last," the agent placed calming hands on his chest, letting herself be tugged possessively onto his lap. He held onto her like he never wanted to let her go.

"I suppose the fact that over the millennia I never actually fell for or cared about anyone might have something to do with it," Klaus begrudgingly confessed. Being open with his emotions was still relatively new to him.

"Not even Cami?" Bella dared to bring her up, making sure to keep her tone light and welcoming.

"Well, she was the one exception, but we never actually…" the Original allowed, grief overtaking his features.

"Became a thing?" she tried, although admittedly a bit too millennial in her choice of words, her hand playing absentmindedly with his hair at the back of his neck.

"You could say that… it was complicated," he looked away again.

The topic hurt too much. They had consummated their relationship the same night Aurora murdered her in her sleep. The despair he felt when he thought she was lost to him forever was devastating. Then she woke up, transitioning into a vampire. Nothing was quite the same after that. Her trust was shattered, and she had distanced herself from him. It was only in her final moments, dying from Lucien's venom that Klaus actually confessed his love to her.

"We don't have to get into it if you don't want to, but I'm here to listen in case you do," the brunette hugged him to her chest, offering her full emotional support to him.

She really did remind him of Cami in many ways. The blond girl had always been there to listen too, even when talking was the last thing he had wanted. Her having a psychology degree might have had something to do with that.

"You are too perfect for words, love," Niklaus broke away from her just enough to kiss her appreciatively, then allowed her to hold him tight.

A few minutes later an unbidden yawn escaped her, and she flushed scarlet in embarrassment.

"Tired, love?" the werewolf hybrid brushed a lock of hair out of her face, studying her features.

"Very," Bella revealed, staring blankly in front of herself.

"Do you want to postpone the move until tomorrow?" Klaus gave her an out, though he wanted nothing else than to sleep with her again tonight.

"No, I'm all packed up, we can take everything over to your room. Just unpacking into closets might have to wait," she admitted with a sheepish smile.

"If you are sure…" he trailed off uncertainly.

Why he kept walking on eggshells around her, Bella couldn't figure out.

"Yes, I am. Let's go," the girl insisted, slipping off his lap, extending her hand towards him.

Klaus stood happily, grabbing her bags before exiting the room with her.

As they walked along the interior balcony towards their destination, someone hollered at them from the ground floor of the atrium.

"Should I bring champagne or a housewarming gift?" Kol exclaimed mockingly. "Breaking the world record of hastily shaking up should be celebrated!"

"Ignore him…" Klaus hissed through his gritted teeth to Bella.

"I heard that!" the younger Mikaelson kept poking the bear… or wolf in this case.

"That was my intention!" the werewolf hybrid snapped. His irritation with his brother was already high because of the mind games Kol was playing with Bella.

Bella chuckled at their exchange. She was an only child, but she assumed banters like this would have been a frequent occurrence in her household too if that weren't the case. Except human families didn't quite get as violent usually. On a whim, she leaned over the railing as she addressed the boy – for he was just that, he couldn't have been older than Bella when he was turned – deciding to defuse the situation in an alternative fashion.

"One would think you'd have better things to do, having been recently revived and all, than spying on your brother's love life, don't you agree?" the girl asked, cocking her head to the side to enhance the childish wonder of the inquiry.

Having been called out on his behavior straight to his face, instead of the passive-aggressive back and forth that was so characteristic of his family dynamic, had the younger Mikaelson stumped. Primarily since the implication was that he was straight up interested in their bedroom endeavors. Which he most definitely did not want to know about.

"Goodnight!" she called to him, not unkindly, before he could say another word and they disappeared into Klaus's room.

The Original scooped Bella up to straddle him the second the door closed behind them, dropping the bags carelessly into a corner, and began kissing her fervently. He found her big mouth and spunk a massive turn on and couldn't wait to make her his once again.

Without actually looking, he made his way to his bed solely based on his memory of the room, and placed the girl down, releasing her for a few moments until he hastily undressed himself.

It really couldn't have been more than three seconds, but by the time he crawled onto her, she was fast asleep, her head lolling to the side. The original let out a strangled, little, defeated chuckle, shaking his head in amusement. Promises or no promises, Bella did say that she was utterly exhausted. Raincheck it is.

Klaus quickly undid and removed her boots, to at least make somewhat comfortable, then tucked her in before heading to his en-suite for a cold shower to try and relieve some of the sexual tension from his body. When he reemerged, he noticed that she hadn't moved an inch in the time he was gone. The werewolf hybrid quickly crawled into bed, pushing a stray lock of hair away from face lovingly.

"Sleep well, love," he murmured before flicking the lights off.

* * *

Wednesday morning, Bella woke up too warm, tangled in Klaus's embrace. For a moment she almost didn't remember how she got there, then hot embarrassment flushed her face as her memory supplied the missing pieces a second later.  _I seriously fell asleep during sex? Okay, foreplay… whatever. Still!_

Even with her limited experience, she knew that was bad. Yet Klaus seemed just as possessive as ever, even in his sleep, one hand draped over her torso, clutching her close, their feet intertwined under the blankets. The brunette hoped he wouldn't hold any resentment later when he was conscious either.

As she tried to free herself from the octopus vice grip the original had on her body, Bella noticed that she was still dressed in yesterday's clothes. What surprised her most about this revelation is that her jeans were too tight on her. Vampires didn't get fat… so how? There wasn't that much of a difference, but enough that she immediately undid her button when she was finally able to slip out of bed. Oddly enough Klaus didn't even stir.

With a quick glance around she located her bag that had been abandoned by the door, got some fresh clothes and her vanity bag then wandered into the large en-suite bathroom. The warmth of the morning shower felt so good on her skin, soothing away a tenseness she didn't even realize was there. And then as she started washing herself off and her hands skimmed her breasts, she almost gasped at how tender they were.

Though it struck her as odd, she dismissed the concern almost instantly, stepping out of the shower and toweling herself off. Getting dressed was another challenge. The last thing she wanted today were constricting jeans, so she quickly discarded the ones she had brought in after she felt really uncomfortable in them and went back outside to dig up her most stretchy pair of pants that she could still get away with at work.

* * *

**Light smut warning, if you don't want to read it skip to the next bold text :)**

* * *

As Bella bent down, clad in only her panties and top, she heard Klaus groan appreciatively behind her back.

"Now, that is a sight worth waking up to," the Original chuckled, propped up on his elbows as he admired the view.

The vampire girl felt herself flush at the compliment, spinning around so fast with her newly chosen pants in hand that she almost got dizzy.

"Morning to you too. Handsome," she tried flirting, but she was too flustered for that sentence to come out right. Instead, she looked like a little schoolgirl, bashfully glancing at her crush, her legs crossed in front of each other from trying not to fall from the momentum. Klaus huffed a fond little amused laugh, beckoning her to join him.

"Come here, love."

"I'm going to be late," the agent pretended to pout but crossed the room nonetheless, letting herself to be pulled into bed with him.

"I won't keep you long then," he murmured huskily against her throat, peppering her skin first with light then increasingly more insistent kisses and nibbles. "I have promises to collect if I recall correctly."

Bella was putty in his hands within seconds, moaning hard when he slipped his hand down into her panties.

"So wet for me already," the werewolf hybrid practically growled appreciatively into her ears, sending another wave of hot need down to her core.

"Klaus… please…" Bella sighed, barely a whisper on her lips.

"Please what, darling?" he teased playfully, his thumb circling her clitoris, alternating between light strokes and more insistent brushes as he cupped the rest of her, playing around her entrance.

"AH…" she gasped in pleasure at one particular instance that seemingly had a direct line to the raw need coiling tighter and tighter low in her belly.

The Original seemed to take mercy on her with a smirk against her skin, because the next thing she knew, he was pulling his boxers down, his whole length springing free. Soon she realized that wasn't entirely the case because after he tugged her panties down and settled between her legs, he kept up the relentless teasing, just with his cock now.

"Please…" the girl breathed, looking up pleadingly into his blue-green eyes. Begging seemed to be his thing. He enjoyed hearing her beg. Kinky fucker.

"What it is that you want, sweetheart?"

Even the werewolf's husky voice vibrating against her skin was maddening.

"You…" she was at her wit's end by now, even though she couldn't explain even to herself why. He had barely done anything, yet everything seemed so intensified, every touch felt like they have been at this for hours instead of mere few minutes with how sensitive she was.

Klaus  _finally_  thrust into her, slow and deliberate move, savoring every inch of her, and no matter how tightly wound she was, Bella knew that was exactly what she needed. The Original almost hissed in surprise, she was so snug and slick, her walls clamping down on his length with every movement.

It didn't take long for either of them to come. And Bella was practically screaming his name with the intensity of her orgasm.

* * *

**End of smut.**

* * *

Bella somehow managed not to be late after the morning she had, but she was utterly distracted. That was the most accurate way to put it. And it wasn't the mind-blowing sex that had her preoccupied either. She couldn't really concentrate on their case, she felt tired despite the excellent night of sleep she got, and her mind kept flickered back to the oddities she had been experiencing for the last few days. And then there was the thumping. The sound of blood rushing in every human's arteries who were currently in the same room with her. She was hungry and thirsty and didn't know what to do with herself.

"Bella!" Sonja waved a hand in front of her face, apparently having called her name several times without getting a response. "Everything alright there? You've been kind of spacing out on us."

Right. They were in the middle of the morning briefing, summarizing everything they had learned about Brooks.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Swan began, but her words got swallowed up by the sudden onset of nausea. "Excuse me," she managed to get out before dashing at incredible speeds toward the ladies' room. Somewhere along the way, her subconscious mind reined back her muscles enough for it to be humanly possible to move the way she had. Thank god.

And then came the vomiting. Bella hadn't vomited since… well, well before she had become a vampire. It sucked big time. She had definitely not missed this aspect of the human experience, and it just added a whole new pile of misery on top of her physical woes. Her mind was racing over the possible causes that could make a vampire upchuck their breakfast. Was she rejecting last night's elk blood?

Before she could get to the end of her train of thought, there was a knock on the door.

"Hey, Swan, you alright in there?" Sonja asked, worry lacing her tone.

"Yeah, super!" Bella mumbled before a moan took her voice and she hurled once more.

By some miracle, the urge subsided that after that and the brunette was able to get off the floor and to the sink to wash away the foul taste from her mouth.

"Sure you don't need help?" Percy rapped on the door again, bringing Bella's attention back to her.

The vampire hybrid could hear the pulsing of her blood in her veins even through the barrier, and Bella gulped uneasily. She couldn't stay here. Not with this weird blood lust she had going on right now. Glancing up at the mirror, the girl noted her clammy face. She looked like a total mess.

_Okay, I can work with this_ , the agent thought to herself. She sucked in a deep breath to steel herself, vowing not to take another one until she was well out of here, lest her instincts took over and she murdered her colleagues.

The brunette carefully opened the door, making sure to look wobbly, and wholly unwell.

"Geez, girl," the other female agent commented wryly. "If you weren't feeling well, you should have just said something."

"Everything okay back there?" Pride's voice carried down the corridor, him appearing around the corner.

"Stomach flu, I think," Bella mumbled without wasting much of her precious air as she leaned against the wall for support to complement her act.

Not that she needed air to survive. She could do without oxygen, but unfortunately, vocal cords required something to resonate from to make sounds, and the vampire wasn't sure how much more she would need to say to convince her boss to let her have a sick day.

Agent Swan wanted to chuckle internally. She probably seemed like the worst fucking employee of the year. Ever since she had started her new job, every single fucking day something came up that required her to leave early, or have some personal time in the middle of the work hours. Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to care. At all. Fire her for tardiness! That would have been so awesome right about now. Would have solved a bunch of things.

"Go home, Swan," Dwayne sighed with a tiny shake of his head, turning around and heading back toward the team room.

Bella just gaped after him. That was easy. Too easy.

"Want me to get your bag?" Sonja asked empathetically. "You could go out the back if you don't want to face Chris's inevitable teasing?"

The brunette just nodded gratefully and stayed put as the black girl strutted toward their desks.

A moment later, she was back already.

"Feel better," Percy said, rubbing her shoulder, trying to comfort her, but achieving the opposite.

Now Bella could not only hear, but also feel the girl's pulse through her skin, and she had to muster every bit of her self-restraint to not sink her teeth into the other agent.

Instead, the vampire closed her eyes, swallowed thickly, and nodded as she turned away to head out the back entrance. On the surface, it probably seemed like she was just battling another wave of nausea.

Hopefully.

The agent didn't dare to check out the reaction to her struggles.

* * *

When Bella was finally outside, she let herself take a careful breath. Although there were humans milling around, the open air diluted the pull of their blood by a million degrees. She had herself entirely under control.

Nevertheless, she was worried. This was very uncharacteristic of her. The brunette had never been so close to actually sucking someone's blood, so close to not being able to curb back the desire that always lingered under the surface.

Even though she had just been to hunt the day before, she needed to go again. There was no other way around it. Maybe if she was full all the time with animal blood, it would help with the urges more, even if it didn't fully sate the thirst.

So Bella made her way to their usual patch of forest and began her hunt for deer since she didn't have the patience at the moment to go farther for something more significant. Once she caught her prey, she found that the taste was even less appealing than ever before. The vampire forced the blood down either way, and since none of it came up immediately, she deemed it safe to go back to the compound.

Explaining all this to Klaus was going to be a doozy.

The agent walked through the doors of the Abattoir a half an hour later, listening for signs of anyone being home.

"If you are looking for Nik, he went out," Rebekah's voice came from behind Bella, making her jump.

"Oh," the girl breathed out, not quite sure if she was disappointed or relieved that she had a bit more time to collect her thoughts before some kind of explanation would be demanded out of her as to why she was back home before it was even lunchtime.

"Everything all right?" the blond Original caught onto the other girl's troubled expression.

"Yeah, I think I'm just gonna go up and wait for him there to get back," the vampire hybrid declared with a bit more conviction in her voice than she felt, then made for the stairs leading up to their now shared bedroom.

Bekah glanced after her with raised brows. Something was not right. But she shrugged her shoulders and sauntered off to continue with whatever she had been doing before the brunette had come home. Contrary to popular belief, she did know it was best not to poke her nose into Nik's business, even if she didn't always follow this piece of common sense advice.

Bella entered the bedroom carefully, just to make sure, almost expecting having been lied to and Klaus actually being there. When it turned out that it wasn't the case, she almost sighed in relief anew.

The agent walked over to their bed and sat down, running her hand over the duvet as she immersed herself in her thoughts. Something was going on with her. Maybe it was due to the werewolf venom, perhaps something else was wrecking havoc in her system, but Klaus probably deserved to know about it, now that they were semi-officially a couple.

She lay back, staring at the ceiling, her feet still dangling off the side of the bed when suddenly she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore and fell into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Klaus came back to the compound a few hours later, heading straight for his art room to pour himself into another session of painting when Rebekah stopped him in the atrium.

"You might want to check on your princess," the blonde said, suggestively glancing up at the spot where the door to Nik's bedroom was.

"Bella is home?" the werewolf hybrid's brows shot up in surprise. "Did something happen?"

"She didn't say," Bekah shook her head, but something in her expression said that something was wrong.

That had Klaus even more apprehensive. With a hurried pace, taking two-three stairs at a time, he was up there, opening his bedroom door in no time.

Finding Bella sprawled out on the comforter, fast asleep, was definitely not what he had been expecting. The way she lay there didn't seem like the most comfortable position either. Still fully clothed, boots and all, not even entirely on the bed, as if she had passed out while sitting there.

He quietly threaded through the room and sat down beside her, placing his hand on her hair to gently stroke her awake when he noticed the pained expression on her slumbering features. Whatever she was dreaming about wasn't pleasant.

"Bella, love…" the Original murmured, trying to softly rouse her when suddenly Bella shot up into a sitting position.

Before he could say anything, she whipped to the bathroom, the door slamming behind her. Within a second, he could hear retching. He was up and at the door within a fraction of a second.

"Bella?" Klaus asked, not even bothering to mask the utterly worried undertones from his voice.

"Go away," she muttered feebly. The last thing she wanted right now was having an audience to her upchucking.

"I'm coming in," the werewolf hybrid declared, eliciting a groan from the brunette before she puked again.

Nik carefully gathered her hair out her face with one hand, while he got a small towel from the cabinet under the sink and wet it with cold water, placing it against the back of his lover's neck.

Bella had to admit, this wasn't so bad. It did make her feel just a tiny bit less dreadful. She sat back on her heels when she was done, wishing for a toothbrush. Instead she a got a small cup of mouthwash, which was equally effective.

She sloshed the mentholy liquid around her mouth for a few seconds before spitting it into the toilet. Without her asking, the flush handle was pushed, and she was gathered up in the Original's arms and brought back to bed. This time her footwear was removed, though in no way of her own volition. The girl was grateful for that too.

"Talk to me, love, what is wrong?" Klaus inquired, almost pleadingly. He was soon gonna be sick with worry himself.

"I have no idea," Bella whimpered quietly, burying her face in his chest.

"Shh, it's all right," the man soothed, his mind furiously trying to run through the list of possibilities.

The whole thing didn't make any sense. Vampires didn't get the flu or food poisoning, or any other human ailments really. The werewolf venom would have taken its effect much sooner, not to mention other symptoms accompanying, none of which Bella showed in the past couple of days.

She could be rejecting animal blood, which was her main diet, he supposed, but why?

Before Klaus could ask for more details to try and piece together the mystery, he noticed that the brunette had dozed off in his arms. The werewolf hybrid didn't have the heart to wake her for further questioning, nor did he want to move her, lest her sleep got disturbed. So he stayed there the whole afternoon and night with her, watching her rest, but he got none of it himself. His mind was too preoccupied.

* * *

In the end, Niklaus must have nodded off despite his best intentions sometime in the early morning, because when Bella woke up on Thursday morning, after what seemed like at least fourteen hours, he was fast asleep, his arms like a protective vice grip around her once again.

Somehow the agent managed to untangle herself without waking the Original. Truth be told, at the moment she felt much better than the previous day. None of that pesky nausea. She did wonder how long it would last though.

A hot shower would feel heavenly either way, to wash all of the sticky sweat from her body, she decided.

As she got up to make her way to the en-suite, the brunette caught sight of herself in the full-body mirror in the corner and gasped.

No matter how improbable – or rather impossible it was considering that it had only been a few days – there was a definitive bump on her lower abdomen.

Swan placed a soothing hand on the protrusion, glancing down at it with adoration since there was really only one explanation for its existence, coupled with everything she had been experiencing over the last few days.

She was pregnant.


End file.
